Top general says he'd push back against 'illegal' nuclear strike order

Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada, Gen. John Hyten, who is the commander of US Strategic Command, shared what would happen if he were ordered to launch a nuclear strike.

"I provide advice to the President," Hyten said. "He'll tell me what to do, and if it's illegal, guess what's going to happen? I'm gonna say, 'Mr. President, that's illegal.' Guess what he's going to do? He's going to say, 'What would be legal?' And we'll come up with options of a mix of capabilities to respond to whatever the situation is, and that's the way it works. It's not that complicated."

US Strategic Command oversees US nuclear weapons and missile defense forces.

Hyten's remarks come after a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing this week on the President's authority to launch nuclear weapons -- the first such congressional hearing in more than 40 years.

While the President retains that authority, Hyten publicly emphasized that the US military always has the obligation to follow only legal orders, including those entailing the launch of nuclear weapons.

At the Senate hearing this week, experts testified that the use of nuclear weapons must be proportional to a threat, and the Pentagon has extensive options for use of conventional weapons against North Korea.

"We are concerned that the President of the United States is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic that he might order a nuclear weapons strike that is wildly out of step with US national security interests," said US Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut.

Republican members of the committee were less blunt in their criticism of Trump's judgment but did seek assurances that there are legal and strategic oversight measures in place to prevent the rash use of nuclear weapons.

Ultimately, some of those who testified warned against legislative changes to rein in the President's authority to exercise nuclear authority.

Brian McKeon, who served as principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy in the Obama administration, told the committee: "I think hard cases make bad law, and I think if we were to change the decision-making process in some way because of a distrust of this President, I think that would be an unfortunate precedent."