Obama: Iraqi militants could destabilize region

President Obama says that Sunni militants taking over cities in Iraq threaten the Middle East region, and perhaps the United States itself.

Referring to the group sometimes known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Obama told CBS' Face the Nation that "right now the problem with ISIS is the fact that they're destabilizing the country" and could turn it into a staging area for global terrorism.

"That could spill over into some of our, you know, allies like Jordan and that they are engaged in wars in Syria where — in that vacuum that's been created — they could amass more arms, more resources," Obama said.

The president also said that ISIS, also known as ISIL, is "just one of a number of organizations" that the U.S. is focused on, citing other terrorist groups.

"This is going to be a global challenge, and one that the United States is going to have to address," Obama said in the CBS interview taped Friday. "But we're not going to be able to address it alone."

The president added:

"What we can't do is think that we're just going to play whack-a-mole and send U.S. troops occupying various countries wherever these organizations pop up. We're going to have to have a more focused, more targeted strategy and we're going to have to partner and train local law enforcement and military to do their jobs as well."