Washington (CNN) Independent Rep. Justin Amash on Thursday said he believes President Donald Trump abused his power by ordering the drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

"Based on the information I have from the classified briefing I attended, I do think so," Amash told CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront" when asked if the strike was an abuse of power.

"Every military action that is non-defensive has to have congressional authorization under our Constitution. So, we have a 2001 authorization, for example, to go after the 9/11 perpetrators. We have a 2002 authorization to go after Saddam Hussein's regime. But there's no authorization that is pertinent to this particular circumstance."

He added, "So, the only way the President can act is defensively. So, there has to be imminence. If there's no imminence, then it's not authorized."

Amash's comments join a chorus of largely Democratic lawmakers who have questioned if an appropriate legal basis was established for the presidential authorization of lethal force. Those concerns were amplified in recent days after Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at two Iraqi bases that hold US troops in an act of retaliation earlier this week. There were no casualties in that attack, which was retaliation for the strike that killed Soleimani.

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