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A lengthy and at times testy House committee hearing Tuesday on President Obama鈥檚 request for congressional authorization to use force in Syria revealed what pollsters have been noting in the country for several years: a rising isolationism that shuns a role for America as the world鈥檚 policeman.

As one member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee after the other related home-district opposition to any Syria involvement or brandished stacks of printed-out e-mails from constituents demanding a 鈥渘o鈥� vote on the use of force over Bashar al-Assad鈥檚 apparent use of chemical weapons, prospects for Mr. Obama鈥檚 authorization remained up in the air at best.

The four-hour hearing with Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, demonstrated the depth of divisions on the Syria issue and over an authorization vote Obama had hoped to use as evidence of a united American will to act against any use of long-banned chemical weapons.

But the hearing also showcased the rise of a strain of isolationism among conservatives who in the past could have been expected to line up more easily behind the use of American power and the need for America to stand up to the world鈥檚 despots.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 want the United States to get involved in a civil war where there are no good guys,鈥� said Rep. Jeff Duncan (R) of South Carolina, referring to his constituents. Even a group of 150 eighth-graders Mr. Duncan said he spoke to before returning to Congress understands that the US has 鈥渘o clear interests鈥� in intervening in the Syria conflict.

鈥淭hey get it,鈥� he said.

Rep. Ted Yoho (R) of Florida vowed to oppose any military action against a country 鈥渢hat did not attack the United States,鈥� and then asked the three administration officials seated before him, 鈥淲here does this stop?鈥�

Even Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat, who argued that by its vote Congress would either 鈥渟tand up for human rights or put [us] on the dangerous path to isolation,鈥� conceded that the most frequent question he got from constituents on the Syria issue was, 鈥淲hy does America always have to be the world鈥檚 policeman?鈥�

The House hearing took place as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted narrowly in support of a committee-crafted resolution authorizing the use of force. But the 10-to-7 vote reflected not just deep divisions over the administration鈥檚 request, but also qualms over a provision in the resolution calling for US military intervention to go beyond punitive strikes against the Assad regime and include measures that bolster Syria鈥檚 rebels.

Senate committee leaders insisted after the vote that in recognition of the considerable concerns of the American public their resolution was considerably narrower than what the White House proposed to Congress.

鈥淣one of us want the US mired down in another conflict, so the committee has significantly limited the president鈥檚 original authorization, while still providing for an appropriate use of force in response to Assad鈥檚 use of chemical weapons,鈥� said Sen. Bob Corker, the committee鈥檚 top Republican. 鈥淚t prevents boots on the ground, limits the duration of any military action, and requires a progress report on the administration鈥檚 overall Syria policy,鈥� he said.

Perhaps the most prominent rising face on the new isolationism is that of Sen. Rand Paul, (R) of Kentucky, who says the United States simply has no vital national security interests in Syria.

Senator Paul voted 鈥渘o鈥� in the Foreign Relations Committee vote 鈥� as did Florida Republican Marco Rubio, who like Paul is a potential 2016 presidential candidate and who may have been angling with his vote to draw some support from what polls show to be a growing number of anti-interventionist voters.

A new Washington Post-ABC poll Wednesday found that nearly 6 of 10 Americans oppose missile strikes against Syria. Another poll from the Pew Research Center, which has found rising isolationism among Americans in recent years, revealed similar levels of opposition to intervening against President Assad.

Many conservatives and libertarians associated with a 鈥渢urning inward鈥� reject the 鈥渋solationist鈥� mantle, however 鈥� for themselves or for the American people. They argue, rather, that what Americans want is a focus on 鈥渧ital American national security interests.鈥�

鈥淭he American people are not isolationist, they want the US engaged in the world,鈥� says Christopher Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at Washington鈥檚 libertarian Cato Institute. 鈥淲hat they don鈥檛 want is for the US to be the first responder for every 911 call that comes in.鈥�

But even if it鈥檚 not 鈥渋solationist,鈥� Republicans may be 鈥渞everting鈥� to what Mr. Preble says is 鈥渁 more traditional line鈥� in terms of foreign policy.聽 For a growing number of Republicans, he says, the high test for resorting to US military intervention overseas is the degree to which 鈥渧ital national security interests鈥� are at stake. 聽

Concerns about 鈥渋solationism鈥� crept into administration officials鈥� comments before Congress. Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, Secretary Kerry said the US and the world would face even graver challenges down the road if they did not stand up now to Assad. 聽聽

"This is not the time for armchair isolationism,鈥� Kerry said. 鈥淭his is not the time to be spectators to slaughter.鈥�

But Kerry clearly felt the need in both houses of Congress to respond to concerns that the US could slip into deeper involvement in Syria鈥檚 civil war. On both Tuesday and Wednesday he repeatedly reassured members of Congress 鈥� and the American public 鈥� that what Obama is seeking in terms of military action is limited in scope and duration.

But when pressed to answer the question of why it鈥檚 America鈥檚 job to stand against the Assads of the world, Kerry answered with an expansive vision of America鈥檚 place in the world that, as eloquent as it may have been, may not have registered with a war-weary public increasingly dubious about foreign intervention.

Asked by Representative Yoho 鈥渨hy it鈥檚 always America out front?鈥� Kerry evoked the 鈥渂eaches in France鈥� where American soldiers landed to defeat an earlier terrible tyrant (who used gas against millions of people, he said) and then the Arab Spring, where millions are fighting for the rights and values America stands for, he said.

鈥淲e are the indispensable nation,鈥� Kerry said. 鈥淭his is because of who we are and what we鈥檝e achieved.鈥�