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WASHINGTON -- President Obama said Muslim leaders have a responsibility to push back against twisted interpretations of Islam.

This is day two of a White House conference on extremism. The president declined to label al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) "Islamic terrorists," and he's taking some heat from critics.

"The notion that the West is at war with Islam is an ugly lie," said Obama. "And all of us, regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it."

President Obama was criticized for refraining from using the term "Islamic terror," but he is not unlike President Bush in the aftermath of 9/11.

CBS News

At a White House conference on violent extremism, Mr. Obama appeared to take pains to separate Islam from terrorism.

Critics fault the president for not labeling the terror Islamic, and at a private Republican gathering in New York Wednesday night, former mayor Rudy Giuliani went even further.

"I do not believe that the president loves America. What's wrong with this man," asked Giuliani, "that he can't stand up and say there's a part of Islam that's sick?"

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Obama avoids using "Islamic" and "terrorism" in the same phrase