The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution that would block Trump from going to war with Iran without congressional approval.

Several Republicans went against the president, who had heavily opposed the resolution, and voted in favor of it.

The measure, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, passed 55-45, marking a rare bipartisan rebuke of the president.

The House is expected to pass the measure, but Trump is poised to veto it.

Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

Several Republican senators joined Democrats on Thursday to pass a resolution barring President Donald Trump from taking further military actions against Iran without congressional approval.

The resolution, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and heavily opposed by Trump, passed 55-45, marking a rare bipartisan rebuke of the president a little over a week after the Senate acquitted Trump in his impeachment trial.

Eight Republicans voted in favor of the resolution: Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Todd Young of Indiana.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrated the success of the resolution in a tweet: “With Senator Kaine’s War Powers Resolution now passed, a bipartisan majority of Senators just sent a clear shot across the bow saying President Trump cannot wage war without Congress’s explicit approval.”

Kaine tweeted that “this is a strong bipartisan message from the Senate that we will uphold our constitutional duty to deliberate and vote before sending our troops into harm’s way.”

Earlier in the week, Trump contended that passing the resolution would “show weakness” and make it harder for him to protect the US.

Lees ook op Business Insider Kabinet: Nederland zit in tweede coronagolf – horeca in zes risicogebieden vanaf 1 uur ’s nachts dicht

In tweets on Wednesday, Trump said: “It is very important for our Country’s SECURITY that the United States Senate not vote for the Iran War Powers Resolution. We are doing very well with Iran and this is not the time to show weakness … If my hands were tied, Iran would have a field day. Sends a very bad signal. The Democrats are only doing this as an attempt to embarrass the Republican Party. Don’t let it happen!”

….If my hands were tied, Iran would have a field day. Sends a very bad signal. The Democrats are only doing this as an attempt to embarrass the Republican Party. Don’t let it happen! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2020

Kaine introduced the resolution in January after Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Iran’s Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The strike pushed the US to the brink of war with Iran and resulted in an Iranian missile attack in Iraq that left over 100 US service members with mild traumatic brain injuries, which the president has downplayed.

Though the US and Iran moved away from a wider conflict, tensions are still high as the Trump administration continues to hammer Tehran with harsh economic sanctions as part of a maximum-pressure campaign.

Kaine on Wednesday rejected the notion pushed by Trump and his GOP allies that the resolution would be a sign of weakness to Iran.

“When we stand up for the rule of law – in a world that hungers for more rule of law – and say ‘this decision is fundamental, and we have rules that we are going to follow so we can make a good decision,’ that’s a message of strength,” Kaine said, per The Associated Press.

In an interview with CNN, Kaine said: “We’re not tying the president’s hands. We are just saying war is the most serious thing that we do. It should only be done after serious deliberation. No one person should make the decision on their own.”

Sen. Tim Kaine on Iran War Powers resolution vote: "We're not tying the President's hands. We are just saying war is the most serious thing that we do. It should only be done after serious deliberation. No one person should make the decision on their own" https://t.co/ZfeJIPRPkH pic.twitter.com/Vnq89WuXSe — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 13, 2020

Lee, a cosponsor of Kaine’s resolution, echoed these sentiments.

“What the American people and the entire world will see from the debate we’re about to have in the Senate is that there is abundant support for the United States taking tough positions with regard to Iran,” Lee said on Wednesday, according to the AP. “And as part of that, we want to make sure that any military action that needs to be authorized is in fact properly authorized by Congress. That doesn’t show weakness. That shows strength.”

The House in early January approved a war-powers resolution to bar Trump from taking military action against Iran without congressional approval. But it was a concurrent resolution, meaning it doesn’t require the president’s signature and is nonbinding, and Republicans dismissed it as largely symbolic.

Kaine’s is a joint resolution, meaning it would require Trump’s signature and would be binding. The House is expected to pass the resolution, but Trump is expected to veto it.

Separately, the House in late January passed a pair of measures designed to limit Trump’s ability to go to war with Iran.

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California sponsored the first measure, the No War Against Iran Act, which would deny the Pentagon any funds for military action against Iran without congressional approval. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, introduced a companion measure in the Senate.

Four House Republicans – Matt Gaetz, Warren Davidson, Trey Hollingsworth, and Thomas Massie – voted in favor of Khanna’s measure.

The House at the time also voted on an amendment introduced by Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California to repeal the 2002 law that paved the way for the invasion of Iraq under the Bush administration. The Trump administration had used the law to justify the Soleimani strike, though legal scholars rejected this.