(JNS.org) Following an Obama administration statement that he violated “protocol” by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress next month about the Iranian threat, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Congress “can make this decision on its own.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said regarding Boehner’s invitation of Netanyahu, “The protocol would suggest that the leader of one country would contact the leader of another country when he’s traveling there. … This particular event seems to be a departure from that protocol.”

In a statement on Wednesday morning, Boehner said, “In this time of challenge, I am asking the prime minister [of Israel] to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life….”

In response to Earnest’s remarks, Boehner said later on Wednesday that he does not believe he is “poking anyone in the eye” by extending his own invitation to Netanyahu.