President Donald Trump ordered U.S. military strikes against Iran without prior congressional authorisation, and key members of the U.S. Congress say they were not given intelligence briefings before the operation began.
Several lawmakers strongly criticised the decision as a violation of constitutional and statutory war powers. According to Reuters, members of Congress including Democrats and some Republicans had attempted to pass resolutions to restrict the president's ability to strike Iran without lawmakers' approval, but those efforts failed before the military action unfolded.
