Story highlights The panel warned against legislative changes to rein in the President's authority to exercise nuclear authority

Republican members did seek assurance that there are legal and strategic oversight measures in place

Washington (CNN) Congressional lawmakers raised concerns about President Donald Trump's ability to use nuclear weapons during a hearing Capitol Hill Tuesday amid bipartisan anxiety over launch process procedures and indications that the administration has considered the option of a first strike on North Korea.

Members of the Senate foreign affairs committee called into question a decades-old presidential authority to deploy nuclear weapons in what was the first congressional hearing on nuclear authorization in decades.

"We are concerned that the President of the United States is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic that he might order a nuclear weapons strike that is wildly out of step with US national security interests," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut.

Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, echoed those concerns: "Many Americans fear that the President's words could turn into nuclear reality."

Republican members of the committee were less blunt in their criticism of Trump's judgment but did seek assurance that there are legal and strategic oversight measures in place to prevent the rash use of nuclear weapons.

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