WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United States will work with its allies to extinguish the "vile enemy" of the Islamic State (IS) group from the planet, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

In his first speech at a joint session of Congress since inauguration, Trump said he had directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy the IS, calling the group "a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered" people of all faiths and beliefs.

The U.S. president also pledged to take strong measures to protect the United States from terrorism, defending his decisions to tighten vetting process on people entering the country.

"We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America -- we cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists," Trump said.