Republican Senator Rand Paul is blasting the Trump administration for its brazen military campaign against Venezuelan vessels, comparing the killings to Chinese and Iranian executions. 'At this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings, and this is akin to what China and Iran does with drug dealers, they execute people without presenting evidence to the public, so it is wrong,' Paul told Fox News. Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona echoed Paul's concerns, calling them 'sanctioned murder.'

The heightened criticism as Trump administration is exploring new operations targeting cocaine production and smuggling routes inside Venezuela, CNN reported, as tensions with the Nicolas Maduro's regime reach a boiling point. Venezuela sharply condemned what it called 'the military provocation of Trinidad and Tobago, in coordination with the CIA, aimed at provoking a war in the Caribbean.'

The government in Caracas also reported the arrest of 'a group of mercenaries' said to have ties to the CIA , coming shortly after President Trump announced he had approved covert CIA operations targeting Venezuela. According to Nicolás Maduro's administration, the detained mercenaries were preparing a 'false flag attack' intended to trigger a larger conflict, though no additional details were provided.

Since September, US forces have blown up ten boats and killed 43 people. A source close to Defense Secretary Hegseth says the strikes will continue until cartels 'stop in their tracks.' The deployment of the USS Gerald R Ford—the world's largest aircraft carrier—joined the biggest US Caribbean force since the Cold War on Friday. Over the weekend, the USS Gravely docked in Trinidad and Tobago, just seven miles from Venezuela, for joint military training through Thursday.

Maduro has accused the US of 'inventing a war,' while his government condemned the drills as a 'serious threat' and 'hostile act .' Republican Senator Lindsey Graham voiced support for expanding operations 'from the sea onto the land' during a Face the Nation appearance. But Paul has been the lone Republican to highlight the lack of congressional authorization for this military campaign. 'The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it. The drug war is typically something we do through law enforcement,' he told Fox News.

Paul said lawmakers have received 'no information'—no names, no details on whether targets were armed. 'A briefing is not enough to overcome the Constitution,' he added. A legal source close to Hegseth compared the military authorization to 'right to self-defense' under the UN charter: 'When you look at a boat filled with fentanyl, you have to look at it legally as if it were Al-Qaeda terrorists on a boat full of explosives.' But Paul has made the point that the US government has provided no evidence that the targets were drug dealers.

'No one said their name. No one said whether they are armed and we've had no evidence presented,' he noted. The White House declared the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang 'narco-terrorists' and said Trump will use 'every aspect of American power' to stop drug trafficking . 'Maduro is not a legitimate president. He is a fugitive head of a narco-terror cartel,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail. Daily Mail reached out to the CIA for comment.