Rand Paul breaks with Trump on Venezuela, calls action ‘war’ as Senate prepares constitutional showdown

Rand Paul says Venezuela action amounts to war ahead of Senate vote

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., argues U.S. actions in Venezuela are "by all definitions, war" as the Senate prepares to debate a War Powers Resolution on Congress’ authority to authorize military action.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said U.S. actions in Venezuela amount to war, warning the Trump administration is sidestepping Congress as the Senate prepares to vote on war powers.

Paul, a longtime non-interventionist who has repeatedly pushed to rein in presidential war powers, said he was glad a dictator was removed from power but argued the circumstances surrounding the removal of Nicolas Maduro must be debated by Congress.

"I think bombing a capital and removing the head of state is, by all definitions, war," Paul told a gaggle of reporters. "Does this mean we have carte blanche that the president can make the decision any time, anywhere, to invade a foreign country and remove people that we’ve accused of a crime?"

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Sen. Rand Paul speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2026. Paul said U.S. actions in Venezuela amount to war as the Senate prepares to debate a War Powers Resolution. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

"There is no question about the evils that were perpetrated on the people of Venezuela," Paul said. "But this is a question about the prerogatives of power."

Paul made the comments as the Senate is set to debate a war powers resolution on Wednesday. The resolution is grounded in the War Powers Act, a 1973 law designed to limit a president’s ability to deploy U.S. forces without congressional approval.

"The reason for this is they were concerned about the perpetual wars of Europe," Paul said of the Founding Fathers. "They didn’t want so much power to reside in the hands of one person. And so they actually took that power and said the initiation of war should begin in Congress."

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Nicolás Maduro is in handcuffs as he is escorted into an armored car en route to a Manhattan federal courthouse on Jan. 5, 2026, in New York City. (XNY/Star Max/GC Images via Getty Images)

U.S. forces captured the Venezuelan leader and his wife, Cilia Flores, following what the Trump administration described as "large-scale" military strikes targeting the Venezuelan government. The two are being held in New York as they await prosecution on narco-terrorism charges.

Paul rejected the administration’s framing of the operation as law enforcement.

"Now, I think the administration wants to present this as well. ‘This is just law enforcement,’" Paul said. "He’s a drug dealer, and we just had to bomb the whole country because we had to protect the people arresting him."

Government supporters demand the release of President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores from U.S. custody in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sunday. (AP)

Paul said Trump’s opposition to regime change was a major reason he previously supported the president.

"It’s one of the things that’s always brought me back to my support for Donald Trump," Paul said. "There’s at least a dozen, two dozen videos of the president campaigning saying he wasn’t for regime change."

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The war powers resolution is expected to be debated on the Senate floor Wednesday, with a vote likely Thursday.

"We’re going to debate it on the floor tomorrow, and the vote will probably be on Thursday," Paul said. "And I think it’s one of the most important things that we do debate in Congress — when do we initiate war, and who has the power to initiate war?"

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

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