“The American people deserve to hear the government’s justification for these attacks and its legal justification for taking action without coming to Congress,” said Kaine, who serves on the Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees.
“Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional without extraordinary circumstances,” he added. “Congress must be fully informed of this matter quickly.”
Murphy, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, added in a statement that “retaliatory attacks, not necessary to prevent an imminent threat, must fit into the definition of an existing Congressional authorization for military force”.
“Congress must maintain this administration to the same standards as it did with previous administrations and demand clear legal justifications for military action, especially in theaters like Syria, where Congress has not explicitly authorized any American military action,” said Murphy.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), A progressive member of the House’s Armed Services Committee, hit Biden after the attack. Khanna, who pushed for legislation to restrict Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran, argued that there was “absolutely no justification” for the attack on Syria.
“This makes President Biden the seventh consecutive US president to order strikes in the Middle East,” said Khanna.
“We need to get rid of the Middle East, not to scale. The president should not take these actions without seeking explicit authorization, instead of relying on a broad and outdated [AUMFs]”Said Khanna.” I spoke out against endless war with Trump and I will speak out against it when we have a Democratic president. “
The Pentagon briefed Congressional leadership on the Thursday night before the attack, said a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, and government officials on Friday continued to inform lawmakers and Congress officials.
The government will provide a full secret briefing to lawmakers early next week, although it may come “earlier if Congress wants to,” added the spokesman.
The spokesman pointed to the “inherent powers of self-defense enshrined in our Constitution and the UN Charter”, citing Biden’s authority to defend the United States under Article II of the Constitution, as well as Article 51 of the UN Charter.
“We have had a rigorous process to include a legal review of the attacks carried out,” said the NSC spokesman. “The attacks were necessary to face the threat and proportional to previous attacks.”
Thursday’s air strike in Syria came in response to three rocket attacks against US military personnel in Iraq over the course of a week. The new US attack targeted facilities in eastern Syria used by Iranian-backed militia groups that were linked to the recent attacks on US forces.
Although some lawmakers from both parties welcomed Biden’s decision as a necessary move to stem threats from Iran and its proxy powers in the region, opponents of the broad powers of the presidential war questioned the legal justification for the attack and criticized the new president for conducting the air strike without consulting Congress.
Kaine and Murphy have long been pushing to revoke the 2001 Military Use Permit and the 2002 Iraq War permit and institute new guidelines for Congress to approve military action.
In the hours following the air raid, the top Republican Party hawks on Capitol Hill supported Biden’s decision.
Senate Armed Services classified Republican Jim Inhofe praised Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a statement, arguing that the government chose to “continue the approach” set by former President Donald Trump.
“Yesterday’s attacks were the correct and proportionate response to protect the lives of Americans and I expect more information about the government’s response to Iran’s aggression,” said Inhofe.
Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, the top Republican on the House’s Armed Services Committee, said Biden’s decision “showed that attacks on American officials and interests will not be tolerated.”
“We must defend our interests abroad and I hope that the Biden government will continue to apply pressure to prevent further aggression from Iran and its representatives,” said Rogers.
Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.