Nicolás Maduro is a brutal dictator who has caused immense suffering. However, the way to fight authoritarianism abroad is not to embrace it at home.
Foreign policy is not the personal domain of a president. Congress has a constitutional role to serve as the voice of the people and a restraint on power. One of the oldest moves in the authoritarian playbook is to sideline the legislature and strip away checks and balances. That’s Step Three in the autocrat's playbook.
In our democracy, actions of this magnitude and decisions about what happens next, must go through Congress - not be dictated by a president who admires authoritarians and rules like one.