reportedly signed a presidential directive authorizing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct secret operations to support the Libyan opposition forces.

"I'm not ruling it out," the president said last week when Brian Williams asked him about arming the rebels. "But, I'm also not ruling it in."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday that the U.S. should hold off providing arms to the opposition forces.

"I spoke to the president yesterday about this, President Obama, and I think at this stage we really don't know who the leaders of this rebel group is," he told Schieffer.

"We have others, as [Defense] Secretary Gates has said, that can do it more easily than we can," Reid added. "So I think at this stage let's just wait and see."