State Department warns US citizens to leave Venezuela

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he felt "sufficiently notified" about the administration's actions in Venezuela over the weekend.

"The night it happened I heard about it," Thune told a group of reporters on Monday, though he confirmed that he learned about it after the action began.

"I understand, for a lot of reasons, why you can't ... broadcast far and wide to members of Congress an action in advance," he said.

"We'll get more, hopefully, information from the White House," Thune continued, noting that an all-senators briefing has been requested.

Thune told ABC News he does not believe that Congress needed to authorize the actions that were taken.

"No, no," he said when asked if congressional authorization was required.

Asked to respond to critics who say that the actions were not in keeping with President Donald Trump's "America first" campaign promise, Thune responded, "I think America first is protecting American interest and obviously there is a huge American equity in trying to keep drugs from coming across our southern border."

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described in more detail the U.S. military operation in Venezuela , saying Nicolas Maduro and his wife did not know that U.S. troops were coming "until three minutes before they arrived."

"Nicolas Maduro got to meet some great Americans wearing night vision goggles three nights ago," Hegseth said Monday in his remarks before sailors in Newport News, Virginia. "He didn't know they were coming till three minutes before they arrived. In fact, his wife said, 'I think I hear aircraft outside.'"

He went on, "They didn't know. You know why? Because every single part of that chain did their job, and they did it flawlessly, and they did it protecting operational security, and they did it with a commitment to one thing, the mission, to getting that mission accomplished."

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Nearly 200 American forces were in downtown in Venezuela for the military operation involving Nicolas Maduro, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"Seems those Russian air defenses didn't quite work so well, did they?" Hegseth said Monday in remarks before an audience of sailors and civilians in Newport News, Virginia.

-ABC News Luis Martinez

Delcy Rodriguez has been formally sworn in as the interim president of Venezuela, the country's foreign ministry confirmed to ABC News. Rodriguez served as Nicolas Maduro's vice president.

Rodriguez, who was sworn in at the country’s parliament building, made a short statement that did not mention Maduro.

"I swear on my honor that I will not rest my arm nor give peace to my soul until I see Venezuela reach its rightful destiny, on the pedestal of honor it deserves as a free and sovereign nation," she said in Spanish. "I swear to the people of Venezuela that I will not rest for a single minute until I guarantee the peace of the Republic, the spiritual tranquility of our people, and the economic and social stability of our country."

-ABC News' Aicha El Hammar Castano