WASHINGTON — Wary House lawmakers are on track to give President Barack Obama authority to order U.S. military training and arms for moderate rebels confronting the growing danger of Islamic State militants.

Obama was likely to get his wish in a vote Wednesday despite worries from hawks in both parties that his response was insufficient to battle terrorists who have overrun wide swaths of Iraq and Syria.

“If we want to open a front against (Islamic State forces) in Syria, we have to open a front. And I don’t see any other way to do it than try to build an alternative force,” said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. “No one’s excited about it but, you know, it’s the best from a series of bad options.”

Republican leaders have swung behind Obama’s request, though they’re not pressuring the GOP rank and file to follow suit. Top Democrats promised the measure would pass.

“I think there’s a lot more that we need to be doing, but there’s no reason for us not to do what the president asked us to do,” Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California also supports the mission, as does Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The measure would send U.S. military trainers to Saudi Arabia to arm and train Syrian opponents of Islamic State militants, who have routed U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces repeatedly.

Obama has also vowed to use air power to strike Islamic State militants but has maintained repeatedly that American forces will not have a renewed ground combat mission in Iraq in this new phase of a long battle against terrorists.

“I wish that we were doing more, but this is the only option that we’ve been given,” Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, said.

But in a Senate hearing, the nation’s top military officer said U.S. ground troops may be needed to battle the Islamic State group. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that if Obama’s current approach isn’t enough to prevail, he might “go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of ground forces.”