Once they had the lay of the land, so to speak, they needed to come together and discuss their options. This wasn't an easy situation, and the fact that they couldn't go to the apparent source of the difficulty - the President - additionally muddied the waters. They were resourceful enough, really, to at least give a fair chance of whatever plan they had.
They still needed to reach a conclusion first, however.
Discussion
They still needed to reach a conclusion first, however.