US Senate Leader Mitch McConnell defends Iran letter

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday strongly defended a letter sent to Iran by 47 Republicans last week, which asserted that any nuclear deal struck by the Obama Administration would be void unless Congress has a stake in the negotiations.
"(The president) is on the cusp of entering into a very bad deal with one of the worst regimes in the world that would allow them to continue to have their nuclear infrastructure. We're alarmed about it. A number of Democrats are alarmed about it. We will be acting," McConnell told the CNN program state of the Union.
"We will either be voting on a bill that would require the deal to come to Congress. The president says he would veto that," he added.
"If there is no deal, we will be voting on a bill that says the sanctions need to be ratcheted up," McConnell said. "Supporters of the president have said that the choice here is between this deal and war. That's not the choice. The choice is between this deal and tougher sanctions." The Kentucky senator described the Democrats' uproar over the letter as a "manufactured controversy." "The Senate will be heard from. This won't be the last time there are senators speaking out on this issue. They will be heard from again," he stressed.