President George W. Bush today plans to send Congress a draft of a resolution authorising him to take action against Iraq if necessary.
The Washington Postreported this morning that Mr Bush planned to request broad, open-ended authority from Congress.
Mr Bush's proposed congressional resolution would give him "maximum flexibility" to carry out any war plans, regardless of UN actions, a senior White House official told the newspaper.
Mr Bush was also scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell today to review Mr Powell's efforts to persuade the UN Security Council to support a new resolution demanding that Iraq disarm.
A US official said Mr Powell would keep lobbying Security Council members for a resolution that would demand compliance with earlier UN resolutions and outline "potential consequences" of Iraq's failure to act.