Rick Perry, Rand Paul tweak Obama over 'strategy' comments

Two potential Republican presidential candidates didn't hold back Friday when railing against President Barack Obama for saying he and his advisers 'don't have a strategy yet' for dealing with ISIS in Syria.

At a Dallas event hosted by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky ripped into the President, saying it was an example of a lack of leadership.

'Yesterday, the President admitted that he had no strategy to deal with ISIS. Now that may come as a surprise to some,' Perry told the audience, using sarcasm. 'But it is not a surprise to our allies and to our adversaries around the world.'

Perry argued the country needs a president who isn't 'lurching from crisis to crisis' and isn't 'always playing catch up.'

'Presidential leadership is needed now more than ever. ISIS is not the junior varsity,' Perry continued. 'Mr. President, the peace of the free world requires presidential decisiveness, not dithering and debating.'

Paul sought to contrast Obama with former military leaders.

'Do you think General Patton had a strategy before he went to battle? Do you think Douglas MacArthur had a strategy before he went to battle? How about General Eisenhower, do you think he had a strategy...You know what I think? If the President has no strategy, maybe it's time for a new president,' he said.

Obama told reporters Thursday that his administration is still developing its plan on tamping down the growing threat from the militant Islamist group that has roots in Syria and Iraq. Obama said he 'will continue to consult with Congress' on the issue.

'But I don't want to put the cart before the horse,' he said. 'We don't have a strategy yet.'

Following the press conference, Republicans quickly seized on the President's comments as evidence of what they consider his failed foreign policy and weakness on the world stage.

Attempting to clarify Obama's position, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that the President 'was asked a specific question about what approach he was going to pursue when it came to possible military action in Syria' against ISIS.

'That was the specific question he was asked, and the President was explicit, that he is still waiting for plans that are being developed by the Pentagon for military options that he has for going into Syria,' Earnest said, adding that 'the President has been very clear for months about what our comprehensive strategy is for confronting' the ISIS threat in Iraq.