Senate leaders toggled between Iran and impeachment in their opening speeches for the second consecutive session on Monday.

“We find our nation facing two grave and serious choices. One concerns our unity at home and the future of our Constitution. The other involves our strength abroad and the security of our homeland,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who defended the president’s Iran strike and castigated Democrats for pursuing impeachment.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to quickly bring the war powers debate to the Senate floor then pivoted into his drive for the Senate to subpoena witnesses and documents for Trump’s impeachment trial in order to avoid a “sham” proceeding.

The urgency of the situation in the Middle East has made Democrats feel compelled to respond, even as they try to remove the president under charges he abused his office by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a 2020 rival. Democrats are forcing debates to block war with Iran, threatening public hearings and trying to restrict Trump’s future military authority.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) compared her party’s January balancing act to its December gymnastics: “It’s no different than the House putting together the budget deal with the [new trade deal] and impeachment. That’s the job. It’s a lot.”

“They’re both constitutional obligations, both to protect our country in a very dangerous time for the whole world, and obviously to see if we can get a full and fair presentation of the facts” on Trump’s impeachment, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said.

Meanwhile, Republicans are defending Trump on multiple fronts — from the effort to oust him from office and the criticism that his unexpected killing of Soleimani could spiral the United States into war. Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) said “it is not the role of Congress” to determine if the president should strike at targets like Soleimani and accused Democrats of “playing politics with everything.”