Biden tells Congress that Syria strikes are in line with US self-defense law

President Joe Biden told Congress on Saturday that the airstrikes he ordered in Syria this week were in line with US self-defense law, as members of his own party called for more transparency as to why military action was taken without the consent of the congress.

“The United States has taken this action on the basis of the inherent right of the United States to self-defense, as reflected in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations,” Biden said in a letter to House President Nancy Pelosi written by Senate Patrick Leahy. .

Biden on Thursday ordered airstrikes on facilities in eastern Syria used by the Pentagon by militants backed by Iran. The Department of Defense said several facilities at a border control point were destroyed and that there were casualties but provided no additional information.

These strikes came in response to an attack on February 15 in which the rockets hit Erbil International Airport, which hosts a coalition military base, in northern Iraq. In the attack, a civilian contractor with the U.S. military coalition was killed and several others injured, including a U.S. service member.

“I have directed these military actions to protect and defend our personnel and our partners from these attacks and future attacks,” Biden wrote in his letter on Saturday.

The letter comes as some Senate Democrats pushed back against Biden over the strikes, calling on him to give an information session on why military action was taken without congressional approval. Under the War Powers Resolution, presidents must notify Congress within 48 hours of military action. In the letter, Biden mentions his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief.

‘I have conducted this military action in accordance with my responsibility to protect the citizens of the United States, at home and abroad, and to advance the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, under my constitutional authority over foreign relations with the United States and as Commander-in-Chief and CEO, ‘Biden wrote.

According to a spokesman for the National Security Council, the Pentagon has informed leaders in Congress before the military attacks. According to a Democratic assistant, the staff of the house, Nancy Pelosi, was also notified before the strike.

Iran condemned the US airstrikes on Saturday and denied responsibility for the rocket attacks on US targets. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the US strikes were “illegal and a violation of Syria’s sovereignty”, according to reports from Iran’s state media.

CNBC’s Christian Nunley and Reuters contributed to this report.