US Senator Dan Sullivan, Republican of Alaska says Donald Trump needs approval for preemptive strike on North Korea

US Senator Dan Sullivan, Republican of Alaska (Photo by AFP)

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has said Congress needs to approve any preemptive strike against North Korea following President Trump’s threat to hit the country “with fire and fury.”

On Tuesday, Trump said, “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” after North Korea warned it will teach the US a "severe lesson" with its nuclear weapons if Washington would dare to opt for military action against Pyongyang.

Following Trump’s inflammatory remarks, North Korea said it was "carefully examining" a plan to strike the American Pacific territory of Guam with missiles.

In an interview with Fox News's "The Story," Sullivan said, "[I]f one of the military options that the administration is looking at is a preemptive war on the Korean peninsula launched by the United States, that would require the authorization of Congress."

"Article I of the US Constitution is very clear about that," he added.

However, he said that Trump would have more leeway to responsd if the North attacks first.

"Obviously, as the commander in chief, the president can react to attacks on the country in a way that he has broader authority on that. I was mentioning the discussions of a preemptive war on the peninsula, that clearly goes in the realm of the authorization of Congress."

People walk past a television screen showing US President Donald Trump at a railway station in Seoul on August 9, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Trump’s provocative remarks triggered reactions from other lawmakers too, who all said they were opposed to such a move.

“Isolating the North Koreans has not halted their pursuit of nuclear weapons," Senator Dianne Feinstein of California and the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said. "And President Trump is not helping the situation with his bombastic comments."

Also, Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, described Trump’s comments as “an absurd red line,” noting that the latest pledge to punish Pyongyang could weaken the US credibility.

Tensions have been rising between the two countries over Pyongyang’s recent missile tests. Since early July, the North has tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which it says can hit the US mainland.

The US, in response, has ratcheted up the rhetoric and drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution that seeks to cut the country’s $3 billion annual export revenue by a third. The council unanimously adopted the sanctions resolution on Saturday.