President Obama gives statement to country on Syria

The White House announced Saturday that President Obama will speak to the nation at 1:15 ET Saturday afternoon.

A senior administration official said the president's remarks were not about imminent military operations in Syria, but rather an update about his decisions on how to proceed.

The Obama administration was to continue its sales pitch to Congress to get behind a potential military strike against Syria on Saturday, hours after U.N. weapons inspectors left the country amid high anticipation of an imminent U.S. attack.

The president's national security will brief the entire Senate Republican conference today via telephone at 1pm ET on Syria at the request of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Also on Saturday, the office of House Speaker John Boehner announced that the White House plans to provide a classified briefing at 2 p.m. Sunday to members who wished to attend.

(source)

UPDATE: President Obama to seek authorization from Congress before ordering military action against Syria.  More at USA Today.