Defense Secretary Ashton Carter agrees that the United States is at war with ISIS in an interview airing Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Using the Obama administration's preferred acronym for the ISIS, Carter tells MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinksi: "We have to defeat ISIL (ISIS). We will defeat ISIL. You see the barbarism associated with this, and so it is something that must be defeated."
Asked by Scarborough whether he agrees with French President François Hollande that "we're at war with ISIS," Carter replies, "Yeah."
"I think François Hollande has said it very well," Carter says. "I'm glad the French are galvanized in joining the fight now."
Under Article One, Section Eight, of the U.S. Constitution, Congress, not the executive, is the branch of the federal government with authority to formally declare war.
"Morning Joe" airs weekdays 6 a.m. ET on MSNBC.