State Department warns US citizens to leave Venezuela

Multiple ambassadors to the United Nations criticized the United States' intervention in Venezuela during an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting in New York on Monday, questioning the legality of the operation.

The representative of Venezuela called the operation an "illegitimate armed attack lacking any legal justification" and said the "kidnapping" of Maduro is "of particular seriousness." The representative suggested that the U.S. carried out its operation on Venezuela because of its natural resources.

The representatives of Colombia, France, Denmark, Russia and Iran were among those who also criticized the military action. The representative of France said it "runs counter to the principle of peaceful dispute resolution," while the Russian ambassador called it a "criminal operation."

In a statement to the security council delivered during the meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres additionally expressed concern that the U.S.' military action in Venezuela did not respect international law and said he was "deeply concerned" about its potential impact on the region and the precedent it may set.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz defended the action during the meeting, saying that the U.S. "will not waver in our actions to protect Americans from the scourge of narco-terrorism and seeks peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela."

-ABC News' Mike Pappano

Deportation flights to Venezuela have not been suspended in the wake of Nicolas Maduro's capture, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told ABC News on Monday.

DHS did not say if there have been any removals since Saturday, though ICE Flight Monitor -- a nonprofit that tracks deportation flights -- told ABC News that no flights have departed for Venezuela since Dec. 12.

Earlier Monday, DHS said in a post on X that the more than 500,000 Venezuelans whose Temporary Protected Status was canceled can now "go home to a country that they love."

-ABC News' Laura Romero

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