Is this the White House washing their hands of the memo?
If Trump has Constitutional authority to declassify and release the memo, that is the obvious quickest route to release it IF the Whitehouse wants it released.
Why kick it back to the congress?
WH wasn’t doing that, he was allowing the Intel Committee/Nunes to release it on their own, while he was at DEVOS. It was not in Trump’s best interest to tackle that before his trip to Davos, when he would be out of country. That WH comment worked with protocol that, if the Intel/Nunes released the memo, as required he would not respond negatively and after 5 days it would become public.
PEOPLE ON FR respond so often without understanding the laws or protocols that bind the President. OR that his comments are not binding, when trying to deal with Democrats but are testing, pulling out truth, or showing public Dems real interest/meaning. If he signs it, then he approves it! If he does not have to respond ‘no’, it will happen, then he will likely let Congress do its’ job!