Kaine tells Congress to 'get its a-- off the couch,' reclaim war powers

Kaine argued on a call with reporters that Congress has the constitutional authority to weigh in on military action and was frustrated throughout Trump's second term that the check and balance was being bowled over.

The Virginia Democrat's latest effort would prevent further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval.

"We're going to be pushing our Republican colleagues to stand up for the American people, to get this done," Schumer said. "Congress should not be sidelined as the Trump administration gets sucked into another nation-building quagmire, and we're going to hold them accountable, protect American lives, to protect America's interests."

Another issue that many congressional Democrats have is that lawmakers weren't notified of the strikes until after the fact. Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued over the weekend that it would have been risky to notify lawmakers in advance given the sensitive nature of the operation. Trump charged that Congress was kept in the dark because lawmakers leak. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who didn't receive notification of the operation until afterward, said that he was "comfortable" with the timing. 

"They didn't tell me ahead of time," Thune said. "But I think there's a reason why, like I said, before notification of Congress in advance of really critical and hypersensitive missions, to me, seems ill-advised anyway."