WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is predicting the U.S. will soon be "arming the rebels" seeking to overthrow Syria's Bashar Assad.

Tennessee's Bob Corker says "it's time for to begin changing" the balance of power in the 2-year-old civil war.

A Syrian rebel walks past a destroyed building in Salma in the coastal province of Latakia on April 26, 2013. The number of Syrians who have fled their conflict-ravaged homeland has surpassed 1.4 million, the United Nations refugee agency said, warning that it was no longer able to meet their medical needs. - MIGUEL MEDINA, AFP, Getty Images
A Syrian rebel walks past a destroyed building in Salma in the coastal province of Latakia on April 26, 2013. The number of Syrians who have fled their conflict-ravaged homeland has surpassed 1.4 million, the United Nations refugee agency said, warning that it was no longer able to meet their medical needs. - MIGUEL MEDINA, AFP, Getty Images
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The Obama administration said last week it was rethinking its opposition to arming the rebels.

Corker and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, joined President Barack Obama and Democratic Sen. Mark Udall for golf Monday. Corker tells "CBS This Morning" political issues were discussed but said the partners agreed not to publicly reveal the conversation.

Corker did say that Washington wants to exercise caution about which opposition groups to support, saying it doesn't want to line up with the more radical elements fighting against Assad.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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