In 2003, concern for a stable Middle East led both houses of the U.S. Congress to pass overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis the Syria Accountability Act, which dealt in part with the importance of preventing the use of chemical or biological weapons by Syria and meeting it with whatever force necessary.
In essence, it allowed the President to use military force if needed. Many members of Congress who were in office in 2003 are still in office today. However, most of these members are now in opposition to military action. Some of these same members now accuse the President of a Syrian policy that is inconsistent.
In 2003, it was politically expedient to be for any policy that was a show of force against a Muslim country. Ten years later a war weary country is in no mood for more war, no matter how limited. Therefore, over 100 members of Congress who originally voted for the Accountability Act and are still in Congress, now refuse to support the President having a military option.
The President is being called a hypocrite by some of these same politicians, since he ran on a platform of ending the Iraq and Afghan wars. I think there is plenty of hypocrisy to go around. Many make the argument that the representatives are following the will of their constituents. So if that is true, I guess we must all want a government that is incapable of any intellectual debate on any issue that might result in fair compromise.