Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Sunday that President Donald Trump may be breaking the law with his deal to ease sanctions on Russian diesel. "I do believe there's a legitimate case for saying the president's not following the law," Tillis told NBC's "Meet the Press." Asked directly whether Trump is breaking the law, he said, "I believe that he may be."

In 2022, the Senate unanimously passed a bill to ban Russian oil imports, and Congress has not changed that law, NBC News reported. ABC's Jonathan Karl said the deal "appears to violate a law Congress passed shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine." Karl added that some experts say it would only marginally affect U.S. diesel prices.

Asked what the Senate could do, Tillis pointed to year-end funding talks. "I'm not the only Republican concerned with this," he said. Asked whether the deal puts American lives at risk, he said, "It absolutely will," pointing to Russia's ties to Iran, NBC reported.

The Washington Examiner carried more of that answer. "These are bad people hanging out with bad people, putting American lives at risk, particularly our special operators and people forward deployed," Tillis said. Tillis, who is retiring, was also one of the Republicans who signed a bipartisan Senate statement Sunday urging the administration to drop the deal, the Examiner reported.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota took the other side on ABC's "This Week." "It's another example of our president thinking out of the box," Emmer said. He said "the American people are hurting" from high fuel costs and that Trump is "trying to find every answer possible" to help them. Emmer later called "$4 gas, $6 diesel" "entirely unacceptable."

What we know: Tillis says the diesel deal may break a 2022 law and put American lives at risk, while Emmer backs it.
What we don't: Whether Tillis or other Republicans will use year-end funding talks to try to block the deal.