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As the Trump administration continues its murderous attacks against Venezuelan boats it accuses of being involved in drug trafficking -- the death toll now stands at 14 dead in three separate attacks this month -- legal experts have condemned the attacks as experts as "murder" and "extrajudicial executions." Now, congressional Democrats are moving to rein in what is widely seen as a lawless presidency.

Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Friday introduced a joint War Powers resolution (S.J.Res.59) "to direct the removal of US armed forces from hostilities that have not been authorized by Congress." The resolution echoes similar resolution filed in the House by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on September 11.

War powers resolutions are privileged, meaning that the House and Senate will be required to promptly consider and vote upon the resolutions.

The Trump administration has claimed the right to kill what it describes as "narco-terrorists" who are importing drugs into the US but it has provided little evidence to back its contentions that the boats were actually carrying drugs, that they were operated by the middling Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua (which the administration has designated a narco-terrorist organization), or that their cargoes were destined for the United States, creating a "national security threat" for Americans.

While the US has indicted Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro on drug trafficking charges, Venezuela is not a drug producing country and Tren de Aragua is more a criminal gang than a drug cartel. Nonetheless, the administration is aiming its ire at Venezuela more than Colombia -- the worlds leading coca and cocaine producer -- or Mexico -- by far the largest source of illicit drugs entering the US.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this month that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's assessment that Venezuela is also not a major source of cocaine was of no importance to the administration. "I don't care what the UN says," Rubio told reporters after the military killed 11 Venezuelans in its first strike earlier this month.

In the past, the US has treated drug trafficking as a criminal offense. Ships suspected of carrying drugs would be boarded and searched, and if drugs were found, they would be seized and the crew arrested. But under the leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long been hostile to the regime in Venezuela, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, he of the warrior ethos, the administration is now claiming the right to just blow suspected drug boats out of the water and kill whoever is on board.

That is not right, say the congressional Democrats.

"There was no legal justification for the Trump Administration's military escalation in the Caribbean,” Omar said in a statement. "It was not self-defense or authorized by Congress. That is why I am introducing a resolution to terminate hostilities against Venezuela, and against the transnational criminal organizations that the administration has designated as terrorists this year. All of us should agree that the separation of powers is crucial to our democracy, and that only Congress has the power to declare war."

"President Trump has no legal authority to launch strikes or use military force in the Caribbean or elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere. The Administration has refused to provide Congress with basic information about the multiple strikes it has carried out, including who was killed, why it was necessary to put servicemembers' lives at risk, and why a standard interdiction operation wasn't conducted," said Kaine in a statement. "Congress simply cannot let itself be stiff-armed as this administration continues to flout the law. That's why we're introducing this legislation to require a debate and vote on whether the US should be conducting these strikes without congressional approval."

"Congress alone holds the power to declare war. And while we share with the executive branch the imperative of preventing and deterring drugs from reaching our shores, blowing up boats without any legal justification risks dragging the United States into another war and provoking unjustified hostilities against our own citizens. Congress must be fully briefed on these operations and if the administration believes there is a case to make for a war authorization -- it should make it. But this unauthorized and illegal use of our military must stop," said Schiff.

Congressional Democrats are not the only ones challenging the Trump administration's use of lethal force against suspected criminals.

"US officials cannot summarily kill people they accuse of smuggling drugs, said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. "The problem of narcotics entering the United States is not an armed conflict, and US officials cannot circumvent their human rights obligations by pretending otherwise," Yager said Thursday.

Yager called on Congress to also "open a prompt and transparent investigation into the decision-making process behind these attacks, including the legal rationale and chain of command."

"The US military should immediately halt any plans for future unlawful strikes," she said, "and ensure that all military operations comply with international human rights and humanitarian law."

While the administration has largely ignored human rights and domestic and international law criticisms of its aggressive actions, moves it made last week suggest it is looking to blunt them. There is a draft bill circulating in the White House and among congressional Republicans that would authorize Trump to kill people he deems "narco-terrorists." The draft foresees a five-year window for such authority, which would cover attacks not only on groups the administration has designated as "narco-terrorists" but also any countries that harbor those groups.

The authority would last for five years, and longer if renewed by Congress, and would cover groups that the administration has designated terrorist organizations as well as nations that harbor those groups.

That is crazy talk, said Jack Goldsmith, a former George W. Bush administration official and a Harvard Law School professor. Such legislation is "insanely broad," he said. "This is an open-ended war authorization against an untold number of countries, organizations, and persons that the president could deem within its scope," said Goldsmith.