“No one in the White House can say they were not aware what was going on.”
There are official notification methods that require the President or designated members of the National Command Authority be informed. After that the onus is on them.
The President probably heard about it the same time you did; on the nightly news. Actually, Obama has said this before, no joke.
By law POTUS must be notified within 15 minutes of the CIR coming into the WH Situation Room. Also the VP and SecDef. The CIR hits the WH SR, State Dept., DoD, and every regional command center around the world.
Panetta was at the WH when the CIR came in. That's two people who had to be notified, by law, almost immediately together at the WH.