President Barack Obama says that if he were in Congressman Anthony Weiner's position, he'd resign.

The president said Monday that what Weiner did in exchanging sexual messages over the Internet with several women was "highly inappropriate" and that Weiner had embarrassed himself, his wife and his family.

The president didn't explicitly call for Weiner to resign but said that when a politician gets to the point where he can't serve as effectively as needed, in his words, "then you should probably step back."

The comments were the president's first on Weiner's sex scandal. Obama made them in an interview for NBC's "Today Show."

Weiner is away from Washington seeking unspecified treatment but is not saying he'll resign even as other Democratic leaders call for that.