NBC’s Kristen Welker questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the fact that President Donald Trump launched an attack on Venezuela and captured its president Nicolás Maduro without congressional approval.

The move sparked a backlash from Democratic lawmakers who argued the action was “illegal.”

“White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that an attack on mainland Venezuela would require congressional approval,” Welker told Rubio on Sunday’s “Meet the Press.” “Why didn’t that happen? And will it happen with any future actions the administration plans to take in Venezuela or elsewhere?”

Welker was referring to December 16. interviewin which Wiles told the outlet that military action in Venezuela would require congressional approval.

Rubio responded to Welker’s question and told him that Trump’s attack on the South American country “was not an action that required congressional approval” because “it was not an extended military operation.”

“This is a very precise operation that involved a couple of hours of action,” he said. “It was also a very delicate operation. It required all of these conditions to be met at the right time and in the right place.”

The former Florida senator went on to argue that the mission “could not afford leaks” that “would have jeopardized the mission and caused people to die, or would have ended the mission in the option.”

NBC's Kristen Welker and Secretary of State Marco Rubio Discuss President Donald Trump's Decision

“We didn’t even know if the mission was going to happen. How can you notify something that you’re not even sure can happen?” Rubio stated. “Because for this to happen, the weather conditions needed to exist… there were a lot of factors present. It was a trigger-based operation.”

He then stated: “This was not an attack on Venezuela. It was a police function to capture an accused drug trafficker.”

Welker didn’t let Rubio get away with it. He then questioned him about whether the Trump administration “will seek congressional approval for any additional action in Venezuela or the region.”

“Well, we will seek congressional approval for actions that require congressional approval, but otherwise you will receive notification from Congress,” Rubio responded.

Reiterating his claim that the operation did not require congressional approval, he alleged that the operation is “similar to what virtually every president over the last 40 years has carried out.”

Rubio added: “The difference is that when it comes to Donald Trump, you know, all these Democrats go crazy.”

The secretary of state doubled down on his claims that congressional authorization was not necessary for Trump’s attack on Venezuela while speaking with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” on Sunday.

“It wasn’t necessary because it wasn’t an invasion,” he told Stephanopoulos. “We did not occupy a country. This was an arrest operation. It was a law enforcement operation.”

Rubio also urged Americans to read the indictment to see “what [Maduro] did during the last 15 years of his life against the United States.”

Watch Rubio’s appearance on “Meet the Press” below.

“,”guy”:”video”,”goal”:{“author”:”NBC News”,”author_url”:”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeY0bbntWzzVIaj2z3QigXg”,”cache_age”:86400,”description”:”Secretary of State Marco Rubio joins Meet the Press to discuss his involvement in the United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and how the Trump administration plans to govern Venezuela for the foreseeable future.”,”options”:{“_cc_load_policy”:{“label”:”Closed Captions”,”worth”:FAKE},”_end”:{“label”:”Finish the”,”placeholder”:”ex.: 11, 1m10s”,”worth”:””},”_begin”:{“label”:”Start from”,”placeholder”:”ex.: 11, 1m10s”,”worth”:””}},”supplier_name”:”YouTube”,”thumbnail_height”:720,”thumbnail_url”:”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uMVxYx80v1k/maxresdefault.jpg”,”thumbnail_width”:1280,”qualification”:”Marco Rubio says that the capture of Maduro “is not a war against Venezuela”: full interview”,”guy”:”video”,”URL”:”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMVxYx80v1k”,”version”:”1.0″},”flags”:[],”improvements”:{},”complete bleeding”:FAKE,”options”:{“issue”:”news”,”device”:”office”,”editionInfo”:{“ID”:”us”,”name”:”US”,”link”:”https://www.News themezone.com”,”place”:”y_US”},”Original edition”:”us”,”esMapi”:FAKE,”esAmp”:FAKE,”it’s mobile”:FAKE,”esAdsFree”:FAKE,”enVideoEntry”:FAKE,”enEntry”:TRUE,”also mount”:FAKE,”Entry ID”:”695a8e3ce4b0bdbffbb44c72″,”entryPermanent link”:”https://www.News themezone.com/entry/marco-rubio-trump-no-approval-congress-venezuela-strike_n_695a8e3ce4b0bdbffbb44c72″,”entryTagsList”:”donald-trump,marco-rubio,venezuela,kristen-welker,@flexpro_1472910_10993165,@flexpro_resolved,@us_News themezone_now”,”sectionSlug”:”policy”,”departmentSlug”:”news-politics”,”sectionRedirectUrl”:null,”subcategories”:””,”it is wide”:FAKE,”enShopping”:FAKE,”Override header”:null,”no video ads”:FAKE,”disable float”:FAKE,”is native”:FAKE,”commercialVideo”:{“supplier”:”habit”,”site_and_category”:”we.politics”,”package”:null},”enHighline”:FAKE,”vidibleConfigValues”:{“cid”:”60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf”,”cancels”:{“front_page_top_videos”:{“office”:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”,”mobile web”:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”},”top_media”:{“office”:”60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147″,”mobile”:”60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee”,”iPhone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”iPad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”android phone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”android tablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”},”anthology”:{“office”:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”mobile”:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”iPhone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”iPad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”android phone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”android tablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”},”content”:{“office”:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”mobile”:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”iPhone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”iPad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”android phone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”android tablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”}},”playerUpdates”:{“5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6″:”60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443″,”56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8″:”60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81″,”5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f”:”60b8e355cdd90620331ba185″,”58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895″:”60b64316b171b7444beafdb2″,”58b74698f78ced31417819ae”:”60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52″,”58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1″:”60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5″,”58cff690d85a100b9992bc39″:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180″:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7″:”60b643c82e76be41f112735c”,”592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”5b35266b158f855373e28256″:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”,”5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a”:”60b64440b171b7444beb040b”,”5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9″:”60b646102e76be41f1127ffc”,”5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f”:”60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147″,”5c477987a6b48b35f164773d”:”60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee”,”5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371″:”60b8e747cdd90620331bb861″,”5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2″:”60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b”,”5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6″:”60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9″,”58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321″:”60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c”,”58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3″:”60d0dic19340d7032ad115a0″,”58cff8eccebcea42931e0436″:”60d0e005b627221e9d819d44″,”592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b”:”60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf”,”58cff72fd85a100b9992c112″:”60d0e447 b627221e9d81b0da”,”56b4d34fe4b022697697c400″:”60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443″,”60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d”:”60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81″}},”connatixConfigValues”:{“default player”:”ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b”,”click to play player”:”d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0″,”video page player”:”f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145″,”vertical player”:”e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065″,”StickyPlayerControl”:”52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da”,”sticky player”:”8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22″,”noAdsPlayer”:”deeeda04-49cb-4a1d-ac6c-c388a685b58e”,”life page player”:”e1d799d2-2d81-4f27-bfa0-e6833a657659″,”to dLightDesktopPlayer”:”014f5956-89c0-4fda-9201-b1c2b8232be5″,”adLightMobilePlayer”:”b74a8200-8881-451a-b3ae-e3479c486eac”},”topConnatixThumnbailSrc”:”https://img.connatix.com/11fd6f57-8ce1-4441-b435-a9891656b30c/1_th.jpg?crop=629:354,smart&width=629&height=354&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop”,”custom amplifier components”:[],”ampAssetsUrl”:”https://amp.assets.News themezone.com”,”videoTraits”:null,”position in units units”:{“head_buzz”:{“count”:0},”body_buzz”:{“count”:0},”buzz_bottom”:{“count”:0}},”position in subunits”:{“article_body”:{“count”:6},”summary_blog”:{“count”:0},”before_going_happy”:{“count”:0}},”connatixCountsHelper”:{“count”:1},”buzzfeedTracking”:{“context_page_id”:”695a8e3ce4b0bdbffbb44c72″,”context_page_type”:”buzz”,”destination”:”post”,”mode”:”office”,”page_edit”:”es-us”},”labels”:[{[{“name”:”donald trump”,”slug”:”donald-trump”,”golf course”:{“relative link”:”topic/donald-trump”,”permanent link”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/donald-trump”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/donald-trump”},”department”:{“name”:”Latest news”,”slug”:”news-politics”},”section”:{“qualification”:”Policy”,”slug”:”policy”},”issue”:{“qualification”:”donald trump”,”slug”:”donald-trump”,”overrides section tag”:FAKE},”URL”:”https://www.News themezone.com/news/topic/donald-trump”},{“name”:”Marco Rubio”,”slug”:”Marco-Rubio”,”golf course”:{“relative link”:”theme/marco-rubio”,”permanent link”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/marco-rubio”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/marco-rubio”},”department”:{“name”:”Latest news”,”slug”:”news-politics”},”section”:{“qualification”:”Policy”,”slug”:”policy”},”issue”:{“qualification”:”Marco Rubio”,”slug”:”Marco-Rubio”,”overrides section tag”:FAKE},”URL”:”https://www.News themezone.com/news/topic/marco-rubio”},{“name”:”Venezuela”,”slug”:”Venezuela”,”golf course”:{“relative link”:”topic/venezuela”,”permanent link”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/venezuela”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/venezuela”},”department”:{“name”:”Latest news”,”slug”:”news-politics”},”section”:{“qualification”:”World news”,”slug”:”world-news”},”issue”:{“qualification”:”Venezuela”,”slug”:”Venezuela”,”overrides section tag”:FAKE},”URL”:”https://www.News themezone.com/news/topic/venezuela”},{“name”:”Kristen Welker”,”slug”:”kristen welker”,”golf course”:{“relative link”:”theme/kristen-welker”,”permanent link”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/kristen-welker”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/kristen-welker”},”URL”:”https://www.News themezone.com/topic/kristen-welker”}],”enLiveblogLive”:null,”enLiveblog”:FAKE,”backfillRelated articles”:[],”Login URL”:”https://login.News themezone.com/login?dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.News themezone.com%2Fentry%2Fmarco-rubio-trump-no-approval-congress-venezuela-strike_n_695a8e3ce4b0bdbffbb44c72%3Fhp_auth_done%3D1″,”cet unit”:”body_buzz”,”enableIncontentPlayer”:FAKE,”bodyAds”:[[“

rnrn”,”

rnrn”,”

rnrn”],”ad count”:0,”midArticleAdPartner”:null},”enCollectionEmbed”:false}”>