Updated at 8:14 a.m. ET: President Barack Obama has signed a so-called "intelligence finding" authorizing covert aid to the Syrian rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, NBC News has confirmed.
White House and intelligence officials declined to comment on a Reuters report about the aid.
A U.S. official also said that while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the U.S., is providing non-lethal aid and communications to the rebels, the presidential finding provides more intelligence resources than had been previously known.