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After classified briefings on the effectiveness of last week's U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, Republicans largely agreed with President Trump's assessment of "obliteration."

º£½Ç»»ÆÞ's Democratic congressional delegation wasn't so sure.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, for example, claimed Trump was "deliberately misleading the public" when he said Iran's nuclear program was "completely and totally obliterated." Murphy believes the attack only set it back "by a handful of months" and not years if Iran still possesses enriched uranium.

"There’s no doubt there was damage done to the program, but the allegations that we have obliterated their program just don’t seem to stand up to reason," Murphy told reporters Thursday at the U.S. Capitol. "I can’t share any of the details from this briefing, but I just do not think the president was telling the truth when he said this program was obliterated."

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said it was too early to tell the extent of the damage and believes Iran is still a threat. But he agreed with Murphy to an extent that descriptions appeared "to exaggerate the amount of damage and how long it would take to rebuild."

Both senators hope for a diplomatic solution but said that depends on the administration's next steps.

The two delayed classified briefings at the U.S. Capitol — one before the Senate on Thursday, one before the House Friday — highlighted the latest tensions between the parties over the strikes in Iran as well as how they view their roles in approving military action.

The Trump administration has strongly defended the strikes. At a briefing from the Pentagon on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it a "." He lashed out at the press Defense Intelligence Agency report that concluded core components of the nuclear component — like some of the centrifuges that enrich uranium — remain intact and the strikes only set it back a few months.

"Because you cheer against Trump so hard, in your DNA and in your blood, cheer against Trump, because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes," Hegseth said at the Pentagon briefing. "You have to hope maybe they weren’t effective."

Republicans were largely in agreement with Trump's assessment of obliteration. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said he believed the strikes caused "catastrophic damage."

As he left the highly secure room where the briefing was held, Blumenthal told reporters he was "hopeful we did as much damage as possible" and called the mission "successful insofar extensively damaged and set back the Iranian arms program." But he cautioned that he wants to wait and see what final reports indicate.

"We have a lot of spin, a lot of narrative that seems to exaggerate the amount of damage and how long it would take to rebuild, and that’s dangerous because it creates a false sense of security," Blumenthal said in an interview after Thursday's briefing. "I came away from that briefing without a lot of comfort that we have completely and finally stopped a nuclear-armed Iran."

"The point is we don’t know. Anybody who says we know a certain thing is making it up because we have no final battle damage assessment," he told reporters at another point after the briefing.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said there has been a lot of recent discussion over "what’s the right adjective" to describe the strikes.

Courtney commended U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, for his questions during Friday's House briefing, adding it was "helpful to get the discussion off of political messaging and into the meat of the issues." Himes serves as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and had voiced concerns about not getting advance notice about the strikes, given the role of the committee on intelligence matters.

Courtney said he he got some information but some questions still remain. For the eastern º£½Ç»»ÆÞ congressman, his biggest focus is on the end game and force protection.

But he described Friday's briefing as well-attended and said lawmakers in both parties were listening: "You could have heard a pin drop."

"There was no question that both the Air Force and the submarine force executed the mission with great impact," Courtney said, noting the Ohio-class submarine built in Groton that launched Tomahawk missiles into Iran. "But there's definitely going to be more meat on the bone in terms of follow-up analysis and also diplomacy."

The briefings were initially planned for earlier in the week but were postponed, to the frustration of the delegation. Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine attended the briefings.

But Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was notably absent. She testified in March that the U.S. intelligence community "continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003." Murphy said he wanted to know why she wasn't in the room for a classified intelligence briefing.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans were frustrated that the administration didn't seek approval or input from Congress before the bombings. Republicans and the administration believe Trump had the authority to authorize the strike on his own. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has pointed to presidents in both parties who have relied on Article II of the Constitution as giving them that authority to do so as the commander-in-chief.

In response, Democrats have been pushing for votes on war powers resolutions to reassert their congressional authority on military action. One from U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is scheduled for a vote later on Friday.

Himes , which he introduced alongside other national security leaders U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Adam Smith, D-Wash. It is similar to another war powers resolution in the House but has a key distinction: It directs Trump to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in Iran "other than those elements of the Armed Forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally or partner of the United States from imminent attack provided."

The Constitution grants the legislative branch the ability to "declare war." The War Powers Act of 1973 requires a president to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action if there is no declaration of war.

Johnson has been critical of war powers resolutions, saying that it "is not a time for politics" and has called the War Powers Act "unconstitutional."

As they await more answers on the strikes and push for additional briefings, º£½Ç»»ÆÞ lawmakers are hoping to see the president engage in a diplomatic agreement to stabilizing the region, particularly as there's a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

"The only path forward is diplomacy," Murphy said, with a caveat. "I just have not heard a realistic path from this administration about diplomacy."

The º£½Ç»»ÆÞ Mirror/º£½Ç»»ÆÞ Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.