Matt Ortega, Democratic candidate for the open seat in California’s 14th Congressional District, released the following statement on Donald Trump’s unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran:

The President of the United States has done what the Constitution expressly forbids: he has taken this nation to war by personal decree; without the consent of Congress; and without the approval of the American people whose sons and daughters will bear its costs.

The Founders did not theorize about the dangers of unchecked executive power. They lived them—in the edicts of a distant king, in the obstruction of the administration of justice, in wars begun without the voice of the governed. They wrote what they knew: war powers, surrendered to a single individual, constituted an absolute tyranny.

That power belongs to the Congress. That decision belongs to the people. A president who would commit this nation to war on his authority alone is not a guardian of our security. He is a threat to it.

As a concerned citizen, I will not be silent as the constitutional order is dismantled in plain sight. As a congressional candidate, I will not stand by as this Congress abdicates its oath. As a member of Congress, I will not submit to war by executive fiat. For all of it strikes at the very heart of what this country is and what it must never become.

History will record what was done in this moment. History will also record what we did in response. My answer will be clear: I stood for the Constitution, for the rule of law, and for the American people. This government derives its just powers from our consent and we do not consent to this.

We did not arrive here by accident. We arrived here by acquiescence. Each transgression that went unanswered taught this president one lesson: that there are no consequences.

This is a moment that calls for courage. The courage to break this cycle of impunity. There is no turning the page on this era. It must end with prosecutions.