Senators have agreed to postpone a push for a new legal justification for U.S. military operations against the Islamic State.

That’s after a committee meeting highlighting the difficulty lawmakers are having in carrying out what they call their constitutional duty to declare war.

Three months into the U.S. intervention, Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sought to push through a measure defining how President Barack Obama can use military force in Iraq and Syria.

But Republicans who are generally supportive of the war rebelled. The objected to a lack of debate and legislative maneuvering.

The 18-member panel’s meeting ended with the outgoing Democratic chairman dropping the effort and vowing to try a different approach next week.

(AP)