They nearly blew the House down - the Senate, too. If faxes were flammable, fire trucks would have been rolling up Capitol Hill. Not that they weren't still convinced they had the votes to do the deed, not at all. They'd been counting on it, that's all. They'd been looking forward to it.
Some congressmen are just the same way.
But they couldn't get on with it, not right that minute, not with the bombs falling and the pilots flying and the country rallying round. It wouldn't be right. Of course, complaining about it didn't look right either, but they couldn't help themselves. They'd hold off, they announced, but not for long. Nobody was going to play them for patsies.