Would a Senate endorsement alone give President Barack Obama sufficient political backing to launch a missile strike on Syria, ask Niels Lesniewski and Emily Pierce of Roll Call.

With flimsy support in the House, the Senate may be the best chance Obama has to get the thumbs-up from Congress that he’s looking for — though by no means is a favorable result in the Senate a slam dunk.

The president himself refused to say what he would do if Congress split or refused to authorize the use of force against Syria.

Meanwhile, Washington Post’s The Fix reports that “A majority of House members are now on the record as either against or leaning against authorizing President Obama to use military force against Syria, according to the latest whip count from the Washington Post.”

“As of Friday afternoon, there were 223 members in the ‘no’ or ‘leaning no’ category, more than the 217 that would be needed to sink the resolution. (The threshold for passage in the House is 217 votes, rather than the usual 218, since there are currently two vacancies.)”