Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulSecond GOP senator to quarantine after exposure to coronavirus GOP senator to quarantine after coronavirus exposure The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by National Industries for the Blind - Trump seeks to flip 'Rage' narrative; Dems block COVID-19 bill MORE (R-Ky.) said Sunday that Congress must re-assert its authority over whether or not the U.S. engages in acts of war in the wake of the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, saying the authority had slowly been usurped over several decades dating back to the Korean War.

Noting that the 2002 authorization for military force in Iraq had been invoked to defend Soleimani's killing, Paul told NBC’s Chuck Todd Charles (Chuck) David ToddSunday shows - Trump team defends coronavirus response Strzok: 'I continue to believe that Donald Trump is compromised by the Russians' GOP chair defends Trump messaging on masks: 'To say that he should have known then what we know now isn't really fair' MORE, “I don’t think that’s what Congress meant in 2002, nor do I think one generation can bind another generation.”

Paul also said on "Meet the Press" that while he disagreed with President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE’s failure to brief Congress before the strike, “this is not a new trend, this started very aggressively with [President Harry] Truman in the Korean War,” also citing actions taken by President Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam and President Obama in the targeted killings of figures such as Osama bin Laden.

“I think presidents of both parties have been trying to usurp the authority that our founding fathers wanted to remain in Congress,” Paul said.

“They wanted to make it difficult to go to war and I think we’ve been drifting away from that for a long time, but that’s why I’m willing to stand up, not that I distrust President Trump but I’m willing to stand up even against a president of my party because we need to stand up and take back the power.”

Paul also said he would soon be arranging a hearing on documents published by The Washington Post indicating U.S. military commanders privately acknowledged lack of progress in Afghanistan and little hope for the future.

“It troubles me that in private commanders and generals have been saying for decades that there’s no mission in Afghanistan,” he said.

Paul and Sen. Mike Lee Michael (Mike) Shumway LeeMcConnell shores up GOP support for coronavirus package McConnell tries to unify GOP Davis: The Hall of Shame for GOP senators who remain silent on Donald Trump MORE (R-Utah) earlier this month sharply criticized a briefing by administration representatives on the intelligence justifying Soleimani’s killing, with Lee calling the briefing “insulting” and the two saying they will support a resolution that passed the House reining in the president’s war powers.