Democratic lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Trump’s unilateral decision to launch attacks on Iran without consulting them or seeking a declaration of war through Congress. They vowed to vote for a binding resolution that could halt American military action in the Middle East.
The lawmakers questioned whether the United States faced an “imminent” threat from Iran, an assertion Mr. Trump made on Saturday, and a legal requirement for the president to initiate military action without congressional authorization.
The United States and Iran had engaged in diplomatic talks on Iran’s nuclear program as recently as Thursday, and had agreed to more discussions this week. But on Saturday, the U.S. targeted Iranian military sites and government buildings in airstrikes, killing key officials, including Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said that he had not received any indication that “Iran was on the verge of launching any kind of pre-emptive strike against the United States of America.”
“When the president commits American forces to a war of choice, he needs to come before Congress and the American people and ask for a declaration of war,” Mr. Warner said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a Democratic member of the Armed Services Committee, echoed Mr. Warner, calling the U.S. military campaign “an illegal war” on “Fox News Sunday.” He said that Iran was about “a decade” away from building missiles that could reach the United States, dismissing Mr. Trump’s assertion that an Iranian threat was imminent.
The United States Constitution gives Congress the exclusive authority to declare war and to regulate the use of military force, though it designates the president as the commander in chief of the armed forces.
To establish a clear limit on presidents’ authority on the use of force abroad, Congress passed a law in 1973 that restricted military action without congressional approval to “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” The law, the War Powers Act, requires the president to consult with Congress “in every possible instance” before conducting military action abroad, and it limits the unilateral use of force to 60 days.
The legislation, which was codified after both Republican and Democratic administrations had expanded U.S. military involvement in Vietnam without congressional approval, also provides lawmakers with a swift way to rein in the president: a war powers resolution.
But it was unclear whether such a resolution on Iran would have the support to pass both chambers, with Republicans nearly unanimous in their support of Mr. Trump, and some Democrats signaling an unwillingness to back such a measure.
After the U.S. strikes over the weekend, many Republicans praised Mr. Trump for targeting Iran, a major sponsor of terrorist groups in the region, including Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.
On Sunday, Republican lawmakers defended Mr. Trump’s decision to attack without congressional approval, further dimming the prospects of a resolution’s passage. War powers resolutions are expected to be considered in the Senate on Tuesday and the House on Thursday.
Senate Dave McCormick, Republican of Pennsylvania, said on “Fox News Sunday” that the president had not broken any law. Representative Pat Harrigan of North Carolina, a Special Forces veteran, also said that Mr. Trump had “followed the law.”
“That authority exists for moments just like this, when speed matters and American lives are on the line,” Mr. Harrigan said on Fox News.
The White House issued an email statement that claimed that the president had launched strikes against Iran “to defend U.S. allies and partners and to protect U.S. bases,” echoing Mr. Trump’s remarks on Saturday that he had ordered the attack to eliminate “imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, rejected the immediacy of the danger, pointing to the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, which the president claimed had “obliterated” the country’s atomic capabilities.
“There was simply no basis to go in with this massive military campaign, with the goal of regime change,” Mr. Schiff said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The concern here is that we have unleashed factors in the region now that we cannot control.”
On Sunday, Democrats also questioned whether the attack on Iran would make the U.S. safer, expressing doubt that there would be a quick path toward de-escalation without a protracted conflict. Mr. Warner raised the possibility that a more radical, aggressive faction within Iran’s armed forces could take power, accelerating threats against the United States.
“We have very little visibility into what happens next after the supreme leader is eliminated,” he said.
Minho Kim reports on breaking news for The Times from Washington.
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