U.S. will strike Syria even in absence of Congress support, says Kerry

President Barack Obama will take a decision on when to strike at Syria for breaching international laws on use of chemical weapons, even if Congress does not support him, Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Kerry said that while he expected politicians to support a strike against Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime, President Obama had the right to order troops to act even if Congress doesn't agree, The Mirror reports.

Earlier, President Obama had put military action on hold, saying that he wanted to consult politicians before launching the strike.

The statement came after it was announced last week that the U.S. had strong evidence of poisonous sarin gas used in the chemical weapons attack that killed 1,400 civilians, including 426 children, in capital Damascus on August 21.

Meanwhile, Assad said: "Syria is capable of facing up to any external aggression just as it faces up to internal aggression every day, in the form of terrorist groups and those that support them."

Former Tory leader Michael Howard also suggested Prime MInister David Cameron to now ask MPs to support military action punishing Assad's regime for the atrocity.