The Senate gave overwhelming approval on Thursday to the training and arming of Syrian militants pushed hard by President Obama, who will now sign it into law, in fight against the so-called ISIL terrorists

The Senate gave overwhelming approval on Thursday to the training and arming of Syrian militants pushed hard by President Obama, who will now sign it into law, in fight against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group.

The Senate’s 78-to-22 vote, a day after the House passed the measure, masked the serious doubts that some senators had. The House passed a similar measure on Wednesday 273-156, with Republicans backing the president’s measure by more than a 2-1 margin.

In a statement from the White House after the Senate vote, Obama praised members of both parties. “We are strongest as a nation when the president and Congress work together,” he said, calling it a “hallmark of American foreign policy at its best.”

“These terrorists thought they could frighten us or intimidate us,” Obama said. “Americans, we do not give in to fear.”

Obama also said France would join in airstrikes against Islamic State targets and again emphasized that "American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission."