Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky expressed on Sunday that the United States is engaged in what he describes as an “ongoing war” with Venezuela.

During an appearance on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Paul stated, “That is an act of war, it’s an ongoing war, to continue to take their oil, ongoing war, to distribute it.”

He went on to say, “I still hope it works out for the best, but we are still involved in an active war with Venezuela.”

Paul highlighted that the U.S. maintains a significant presence with “hundreds of ships” enforcing a complete blockade of Venezuela’s coast.

Recently, the Trump administration seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, announcing plans to transfer between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. This action coincides with the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

The Kentucky senator also noted that, “we still have hundreds of ships with a 100 percent blockade of the coast.”

Two weeks ago, the Trump administration seized an oil tanker from Venezuela and said the country would turn over 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. It follows the capture of regime leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. 

Trump also told the New York Times the U.S. would continue “running” Venezuela for “much longer” than a few months. 

More than half of surveyed U.S. voters oppose the Trump administration “running” Venezuela, according to survey results from Quinnipiac University.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers also oppose White House intervention overseas. Some attempted to pass a War Powers resolution but the effort was defeated by two Senate Republicans who voted against blocking Trump from using military force “within or against” Venezuela.

“The only problem about a war powers vote now is that since it hasn’t happened, there are a lot of Republicans who say, ‘Oh, that’s prospective. I’m not going to tie his hands prospectively,’” Paul said Sunday. 

“The problem is if you wait until after an invasion, whereas the administration argues, we don’t know it’s a war until we count the casualties. That’s sort of a crazy definition of war because our job is to initiate or declare war,” he added.