Obama expected to make strong pledge of US power to defeat ISIL

President Obama will use his Sunday night address to urge the American people not to "give in to fear" after the California shootings, and he may ask Congress to take action to further safeguard national security, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Sunday.

"I think what you're going to hear from him is a discussion about what government is doing to ensure all of our highest priority — the protection of the American people," Lynch said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."

Lynch also said that "dealing with guns is one way to handle the violent crime issues that we have in this country."

The White House said Obama would provide an update on Wednesday's shootings in San Bernardino that killed 14 and wounded 21, and discuss the broader threat of violence, including how it has evolved and how he plans to defeat it.

On Saturday, Obama asked Americans to stand united after the attacks. 

"We are strong. And we are resilient. And we will not be terrorized," Obama said in his weekly address Saturday.

Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook were killed in a shootout with police after the Wednesday attack during a holiday party at a social services agency in San Bernardino, California.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the massacre as an "act of terrorism" after Malik was believed to have pledged allegiance to a leader of the ISIL.

"It is entirely possible that these two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror," Obama said. "And if so, it would underscore a threat we've been focused on for years — the danger of people succumbing to violent extremist ideologies."

Americans were already nervous about attacks after ISIL fighters killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13. The United States is leading an international coalition fighting the group in Syria and Iraq.

The nation has been transfixed by coverage of the San Bernardino attacks. Obama, already facing scrutiny for his strategy in Syria, has been criticized by Republicans for initially focusing on the issue of gun control after the attacks.

Obama has been frustrated by his failure to convince Congress to pass tougher gun laws despite a series of horrific mass shootings during his time in office.

The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to own guns, making the subject of reforms — opposed by the powerful gun lobby — politically fraught.

Obama met on Friday with Gabby Giffords, a former Democratic representative from Arizona who survived a mass shooting in 2011 and has since become an advocate for tougher laws.

In October, after another shooting, Obama tasked White House lawyers to find new ways he could use his executive powers to address the issue. That review is ongoing.

On Saturday, he called San Bernardino "another American community shattered by unspeakable violence" and said the tragedy was a reminder of the need to make it harder for criminals to get guns.

Al Jazeera and Reuters