The U.S. and Israel launched a joint military attack on Iran on Saturday, sparking a strong reaction from Democrats across northern Illinois who criticized the actions.

The strike marks the second time in eight months the Trump administration has used military force against Iran.

In an eight-minute video presentation posted on Truth Social, Trump said the action was justified because Iran’s government has “rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore. Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the long range missiles” that could ultimately threaten the U.S.

Several Democratic Congressional members from Illinois questioned the legitimacy of the military action.

“Too many Americans believed him when he promised that he would get our nation out of foreign wars and bring prices down for families. They can clearly see with their own eyes that he was lying,” said U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.

“As Congress’ only Ph.D. physicist, I am particularly concerned about the nuclear implications,” said Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville.

“Last June, the Administration declared that prior strikes had ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear program. That was not a technically credible assessment then, and the fact that further strikes are now being justified on nuclear grounds makes that clear. Military strikes on facilities are not the same as eliminating fissile material,” he said.

Congressman Eric Sorensen, D-Moline, said he was “deeply worried” about the president circumventing Congress in ordering the military strikes.

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, strongly denounced the military strike, saying the president has cited no imminent threat to the United States that justified military action “without congressional authorization or international support. The threats he referenced were hypothetical and tied to what Iran might do in the future, not an immediate attack requiring unilateral action.”

He said the administration disregarded the Constitution by taking unilateral action without going before Congress,

“Our Constitution is clear: our sons and daughters should not be sent into harm’s way without debate and authorization by the people’s representatives in Congress,” Casten said in a released statement.

Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson, who is seeking the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in the March primary, said President Trump “must answer to the American people and justify why he potentially entered us into another costly, prolonged war. Congress must pass the War Powers Resolution, since this President cannot initiate military action without Congressional approval.”

Highland Park Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider called on U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately call the House back into session and for public debate on the military action in the House and Senate.

“The President of the United States is not allowed to take our nation to war without authorization from Congress,” he said in a released statement.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg, echoed those statements, saying Trump “has once again overstepped his authority. The power to go to war is reserved for Congress and Congress alone. As such, I will be voting in support of the War Powers Resolution to rein in this unaccountable President.”

Krishnamoorthi, who is also running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, said the president is ignoring that Americans do not want another war.

“By ignoring the limits of his own constitutional power, Donald Trump is risking the lives of Americans in an unauthorized war with no end in sight,” adding that he is “praying for the safety of our service members.”

Trump acknowledged there could be casualties to U.S. service members.

Duckworth, an Army National Guard veteran who was wounded in 2004 during the Iraq war, said the president is putting American lives and national security at risk “while threatening to draw us into yet another expensive, taxpayer-funded forever war without Constitutionally-required authorization, a defined end-state or a real plan to prevent the instability that could come next.”

Trump called on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the country’s leadership.

While calling Iran’s current government “repressive and destabilizing” and saying it backs “proxy militias, regional interference, and hostility toward its neighbors undermines peace in the Middle East,” Casten said the U.S. should seek change there through diplomacy and coalition-building and by “following the rule of law.”

Calling for regime change and destabilizing Iran will not be without longterm costs that will ripple throughout the region, Casten said.

“History teaches that calls for regime change, including our own involvement in Iran in 1953, can produce consequences that last for generations,” Casten said.

Krishnamoorthi agreed the U.S. action jeopardizes regional stability, and “risks drawing the United States into yet another forever conflict,” he said.

“Without an articulated plan to protect our national security and the safety of our allies, this action puts our service members at great risk,” said Sorensen. “Iranian retaliation could destabilize the Middle East and draw much of the world into a full-blown, drawn-out war.”

Schneider said Iran has been a threat to Israel and U.S, interests in the region and the country must be prevented from “having a pathway” to obtain nuclear weapons.

The military strikes come just nine days after Trump convened the first gathering of the newly formed Board of Peace ,in Washington D.C. on Feb. 19.

Trump launched the board as part of what the administration said was a 20-point plan to end the conflict in Gaza. But the board’s original vision has already changed and Trump wants it to “have an even more ambitious remit — one that will not only complete the Herculean task of bringing lasting peace between Israel and Hamas but also help resolve conflicts around the globe," The Associated Press reported.

The Board of Peace includes more than 25 participating nations, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey. Its executive board includes Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and U. S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, among others.

“You can’t call yourself the ‘Peace President’ while bombing Iran, destabilizing the entire Middle East, and making our own country more vulnerable,” Kelly said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.