SECRETARY RUBIO: The United States conducted this operation with a very clear goal in mind. I haven�t gotten a chance to see a lot of reporting. I don�t understand what the confusion is. Let me explain it to you, and I�ll do it once again as clearly as possible. Perhaps you�ll report it that way.
QUESTION: Does Congress have to weigh in? Does Congress have to weigh in? Is the President declaring war, and does Congress have to weigh in?
SECRETARY RUBIO: No. Well, what �
QUESTION: And was there an imminent threat? Did you tell lawmakers that there was an imminent threat?
SECRETARY RUBIO: There absolutely was an imminent threat, and the imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked � and we believe they would be attacked � that they would immediately come after us, and we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded because the Department of War assessed that if we did that, if we waited for them to hit us first after they were attacked � and by someone else, Israel attacked them, they hit us first, and we waited for them to hit us � we would suffer more casualties and more deaths. We went proactively in a defensive way to prevent them from inflicting higher damage. Had we not done so, there would have been hearings on Capitol Hill about how we knew that this was going to happen and we didn�t act preemptively to prevent more casualties and more loss of life.
https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/03/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks-to-press-6
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221065408