"Despicable and thoughtless": Vance's drug vessel strike praise slammed by senator

• Top Democrats said they were left in the dark ahead of the operation. Senate national security and leadership staff were set to be briefed about the strike last week, but Trump's team abruptly canceled the session.
• Under the second Trump administration, the U.S. has entered an era where narcotraffickers are considered terrorists that the president claims the U.S. has the right to kill.

Driving the news: Asked on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday about the president's authority to conduct such strikes, border czar Tom Homan said "that's a question for the Department of Justice or ... Department of Defense," which President Trump has ordered to be rebranded as the Department of War.

• But he said Trump "made the right decision ... when he classified these cartels and these gangs as terrorist organizations," later adding he supports the president's action.

Catch up quick: Vance enthusiastically endorsed the strike, which Trump said killed 11 "terrorists," saying on X that "[k]illing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military."

• The president said those on the boat were "positively identified" as members of Tren de Aragua, the crime organization that the administration has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
• In response to social media personality Brian Krassenstein, who described the attacks as a "war crime," Vance wrote, "I don't give a sh-t what you call it."

Friction point: Paul, who has broken from the administration on several policy issues, called the vice president "JD 'I don't give a sh-t' Vance" in his Saturday jab and wrote, "What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial."

• But Homan, responding to Paul's criticism Sunday, said he's "glad" to see the U.S. "playing the away game."

The other side: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that the Maduro regime are "bad guys" and that the flow of fentanyl needs to be curbed, but he raised concerns about how the strike was carried out.

• "What I'm worried about is if we put our sailors in harm's way by violating international law, unless there is the appropriate designations, could this come back and hurt those sailors?" he questioned, noting that he had yet to be briefed.

• Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that the move was a "massive expansion of presidential authority against the rules that abide by the use of military force." He described Trump's expansions of executive power as "very authoritarian."
• And Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq War veteran, argued the military action was "illegal" and that the strike in international waters "opens Americans to a similar action by our adversaries."

Zoom out: The strike on the vessel that officials said hailed from Venezuela was a major escalation in the president's brewing feud with the country and its president, Nicolás Maduro, who the administration has labeled a leader of a drug-trafficking terrorist cartel.

• While the operation is targeting drug trafficking, potential regime change would be a likely welcome side effect, Axios' Marc Caputo reported.

What we're watching: But as the administration touts its military crackdown on drugs, lawmakers are seeking more information about the legal basis for its mission.

• Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az.), a Navy veteran, told Axios last week that service members shouldn't be put in a situation where they are "doing things that are outside of legal boundaries."

Go deeper: Trump 2.0 refashions U.S. military muscle

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional comments from Sens. Mark Warner, Tammy Duckworth and Cory Booker.