Washington, March 13 : Senate Democrats stepped up their attack on President Donald Trumpâ??s war in Iran, calling the conflict illegal, costly, and constitutionally unsound, while pressing for public testimony from top administration officials.

The sharpest criticism came from Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, who said the United States had been drawn into a war without congressional authorisation and with growing costs at home and abroad.

â??America has been at war with Iran for 12 days. The costs to our troops, to everyday Americans, and to innocent Iranian civilians â?? even school children â?? are dramatic,â?? Kaine said. â??The war is deeply unpopular.â??

Speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Kaine argued that â??the war is illegalâ?? and said the Constitution makes clear that only Congress can declare war. He added that the President â??has escalated his use of our military to carry out hostilities all over the globe without Congress while threatening military action against many more nationsâ??.

â??Weâ??re at war because of the unilateral actions of one man who has grown very confident that Congress will not challenge his kingly behavior,â?? Kaine said.

Kaine, whose bipartisan War Powers Resolution was blocked by Senate Republicans last week, said he had joined Senators Cory Booker, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff, Tammy Baldwin, and Tammy Duckworth in filing additional War Powers Resolutions as the conflict continued.

In a separate statement on Thursday, Baldwin and her colleagues demanded that Senate Republican leaders hold immediate public hearings with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

â??Already, oil and gas prices are spiking, the prices of basic goods are increasing, and the US is spending billions of dollars on this war, rather than focusing on reducing costs here at home,â?? the senators wrote. â??The Trump administration must answer questions publicly under oath in front of the American people, not just behind closed doors.â??

They warned that without public hearings during the current work period, they would â??pursue other options for ensuring timely public debate on the Senate floorâ??.

The political argument over the war also widened into a debate over its fiscal cost. At a Senate Finance Subcommittee hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip L. Swagel about the administrationâ??s expected request for another $50 billion for the war.

Asked whether he could say definitively that the war would cost only $50 billion, Swagel replied: â??No, I can't, and we don't know the duration or the scope.â??

Warren said: â??This war is costing American lives and a lot of money. Money that could instead be spent lowering costs like health care.â?? Swagel also confirmed that extending enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits for one year would cost â??around $30 billionâ??.

Outside Washington, anti-war pressure was also visible. Congressman Mike Thompson said more than 700 community members, veterans, and military families joined â??No Forever Warsâ?? events in Napa and Woodland, California. â??This unauthorized war in Iran has already cost seven American lives and more than a billion taxpayer dollars per day, with no clear end in sight,â?? Thompson said.

Kaine framed the debate in both constitutional and personal terms. â??We owe our troops better than this,â?? he said. â??But as our experiences in Vietnam and Iraq have shown, the bravest patriotic service cannot overcome poor civilian decision-making.â??

The US Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, though modern presidents from both parties have often used military force without a formal declaration. That tension has repeatedly triggered battles on Capitol Hill over the scope of presidential war powers.

/IANS