Senate Republicans on Wednesday rejected a proposal to require Donald Trump to seek Congressional authorization before continuing the war with Iran, brushing aside Democratic concerns that the campaign was illegal and risked plunging the United States into a protracted conflict.

The vote on the war powers resolution, introduced by Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, broke almost along party lines, 47-53. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to vote against the bill, while Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican majority member to support the resolution.

If enacted, the measure would force a halt to U.S. air and naval operations against Iran and require the president to go to Congress before reentering the war. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said before the vote that the resolution was needed to prevent Trump from repeating the mistakes of previous U.S. presidents in Afghanistan, Libya and other countries with Iran.

“The difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Republicans have learned nothing from decades of American arrogance in the Middle East, believing that American troops, American planes, American guns, and American bombs could fundamentally change reality in faraway countries. Democrats have learned our lesson,” Murphy said.

President Trump ordered the military operation after months of fruitless negotiations with Tehran aimed at resolving its nuclear program. Mr. Kaine notified a small group of influential members of Congress in advance, but insisted the president needed Congress’s permission to continue a conflict that has already resulted in the deaths of American soldiers.

“Here we are in a war that is costing American lives, causing chaos across the region, and threatening to grow in scale. And I am asking the Senate to do what the framers of the Constitution said we should do: debate and vote on the issue of war,” he said before the vote.

But Republicans countered by insisting that Trump had not broken any laws, highlighting the long-standing rivalry between the United States and Iran’s hard-line Islamic government.

“We are here to settle the deal with the Iranian regime,” said South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Noting that the negotiations had failed, he added: “It was clear during the negotiations that Iran was committed to its policies. The Ayatollah is a religious Nazi. He has no intention of abandoning his policies, just like Hitler.”

Former Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has argued that President Trump’s invasion of Iran is no different from any military action taken by previous U.S. presidents.

“As I have explained many times before, the president’s authority to use military force, with or without prior authorization from Congress, is in fact well established,” McConnell said.

“President Trump’s use of force to end Iran’s war on terror is squarely within his unique authority as commander in chief.”

Six U.S. military personnel have been killed since the conflict began, with an estimated 1,045 to 1,500 killed inside Iran.

The House is scheduled to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution introduced by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna, but the chances of success are similarly slim. The chamber’s Republican leaders opposed the resolution, with Speaker Mike Johnson warning that it would be “dangerous” to abruptly end U.S. participation in ongoing hostilities.

“The idea of ​​taking away the ability of our commander-in-chief, the president, to take away his authority right now to accomplish this job is a frightening prospect to me. It’s dangerous.” “I’m certainly hopeful and believe we have the votes to stop it.”

Even if the War Powers Resolution passes both houses of Congress, President Trump can veto it, and lawmakers would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override it. The president has also taken revenge against members of Congress who have disagreed with him on foreign policy issues, including saying that the four Republican senators who voted in January to advance the War Powers Resolution to stop hostilities with Venezuela “should never be elected president again.” Two of those senators later withdrew their support, and the bill failed.