U.S. President Donald Trump’s Republicans have insisted that the attack on Iran was fully within his authority as commander in chief.
Democrats said the administration has not made its case and are planning a war powers vote in U.S. Congress this week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff briefed congressional leaders on Monday about the strikes on Iran, two days after Israeli and U.S. forces began bombing the Islamic state.
Democrats argued that the U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the sole right to declare war and that Trump should not have embarked on what he said could be a weeks-long campaign without lawmakers’ approval.
They also faulted the administration for failing to present a consistent argument for attacking Iran now, and questioned whether U.S. interests were dictating policy.
