Rand Paul: 'Civilized Islam will have to step up'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said it's time for "civilized Islam" to step up to defeat the Islamic State (IS) while condemning President Barack Obama's executive action.

Paul said Saudi Arabia, one of America's few allies in the area, has let this go on too long and has aided and abetted the rise of ISIS.

"Ultimately, civilized Islam will have to step up. We need to do everything we can to protect ourselves, I'm all in for saying we have to combat ISIS," Paul told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Wednesday. "So I think it is important not only for the American public but for the world and for the Islamic world to point out that this is not a true form of Islam, this is an abhorrent form."

Paul criticized Obama for his response to IS, asserting that the president should have taken his address to the Hill and asked for military authorization from Congress.

"This is an intervention, and I don't always support interventions but this is one I do support. But I think the president would be more powerful, the country would be more united -- he should've come before a joint session of Congress, laid out his plan as he did tonight, and then called for an up or down vote," he said. "It is unconstitutional what he's doing."