“Congress is going to first call upon the president to do the right thing, but since we can't count on that, we will have this bipartisan legislation that will impose very stiff sanctions on Turkey until they stop their aggression and withdraw their forces,” he said.

Van Hollen also blasted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s announcement Friday that Trump would sign an executive order granting the Treasury Department, in consultation with the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, “very significant new sanctions authorities” against Turkey.

While Mnuchin warned the administration “can shut down the Turkish economy if we need to,” he stressed that “there are no sanctions at this time” against Ankara.

“For God's sakes, what are they waiting for, right? People are being killed right now,” Van Hollen said Sunday.

“Here you have Secretary Mnuchin saying, ‘Oh, well, we'll think about it. Maybe we'll do something.’ President Trump tweeting that he's going to destroy their economy. They look ridiculous right now,” he added. “So, that's why it's important that the Congress move forward on this front. I don't know what this administration is waiting for. All they're doing is talking while people are being killed.”