Principles, policy, and politics collided in the Senate Wednesday as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky dueled over the merits of the raid that brought Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to America.
“I think we’re in violation of both the spirit and the law of the Constitution by bombing a capital, blockading a country, and removing elected officials. And we certainly wouldn’t tolerate it, nor would I, if someone did it to us,” Paul said in a video posted to X of part of the exchange between the two men.
“We didn’t remove an elected official,” Rubio replied.
“We removed someone who was not elected. And it was actually an indicted drug trafficker in the United States,” he said.
🚨 BREAKING: Sec. Marco Rubio CLAPS BACK at Rand Paul opposing the Venezuela attacks
PAUL: We violated the Constitution, removed an elected official!
RUBIO: We did NOT remove an elected official! We removed an unelected, indicted DRUG TRAFFICKER! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Jr8QyL5d9Z
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 28, 2026
Paul then noted that Maduro was “indicted under our laws” and added that the legitimacy of elections has been disputed often and elsewhere.
“It probably was, and most likely was — most assuredly was — a bad election. He wasn’t really elected. But at the same time, if that’s our predicate, and you don’t have to come to us because it’s a drug bust, we’re just removing somebody, you can see where it leads to, and it leads to chaos,” Paul said, referring to complaints from the Senate that Congress was left in the dark when the raid took place.
“And that’s why we have rules like the Constitution, so we don’t get so far out there that presidents can do whatever they want. It is this check and balance,” Paul said.
“We just don’t believe that this operation comes anywhere close to the constitutional definition of war,” Rubo said during their exchange, according to The Hill.
Paul responded, “But would it be an act of war if someone did it to us? Nobody dies, few casualties, they’re in and out, boom, it’s a perfect military operation. Would that be an act of war?
“Of course it would be an act of war,” he continued. “I’m probably the most anti-war person in the Senate, and I would vote to declare war if someone invaded our country and took our president.”
In his prepared opening remarks, Rubio noted that “This was an operation to aid law enforcement. The United States arrested two narcotraffickers who are now going to stand trial in the United States for the crimes they committed against our people.
“Maduro is an indicted drug trafficker, not a legal head of state. We should note that Western nations including the European Union, Latin American countries and the United States, in total over 50 countries, rejected Maduro’s purported re-election following the disputed 2024 elections and do not recognize him as Venezuela’s legitimately elected President,” Rubio said.
“In defiance of Venezuelan law, Maduro refused to peacefully cede power after Venezuelans voted him out of office in the most recent election, resorting to violence to retain office,” Rubio noted.
“President Trump’s actions have created the conditions for Venezuelans to begin returning home and rebuilding their country. The United States is prepared to help oversee Venezuela’s transition from a criminal state to a responsible partner,” he said.
“All of this was accomplished without the loss of a single American life, or an ongoing military occupation. History features few examples where so much was achieved at so little cost as was accomplished four weeks ago for the American people in Caracas,” Rubio testified.
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