History will judge the United States by how it helped or did not help Ukraine stand against Russia, Rep. Michael McCaul said Wednesday, adding that he fears "a worst nightmare scenario" in which Russian President Vladimir Putin would order the deployment of short-range tactical nuclear strikes on the neighboring country.
"I think he's very frustrated," McCaul, R-Texas, told "CNN Newsroom" about Putin, shortly after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's dramatic address to members of the U.S. Congress. "He was told by the military they could finish this in three or four days. I think he's getting very desperate. He's doubling down. He's spent 100% in Ukraine, and now it's going to escalate on his side."
And that means the worry that Putin could start using weapons of mass destruction, including a tactical nuclear weapon, said McCaul.
"At what point are we going to have a red line?" McCaul asked. "At what point is he going to use chemical weapons? We've already seen some evidence of false flag operations on the biofacilities that he's going to throw chemical weapons into the scene."
But the worst scenario would be the use of the tactical nuclear weapons, "and he has a lot of those," said McCaul. "If he gets very desperate like a scorpion backed into a corner, he may sting with a short-range tactical nuke."
McCaul insisted that the use of a nuclear weapon is "not out of the realm of possibility" for Putin.
"A lot of our discussions are how far is he going to go," McCaul told CNN. "At all costs, he wants to win. This is his legacy ... he's a war criminal."
McCaul's comments came after Zelenskyy's impassioned plea Wednesday morning to members of Congress for help to protect his country, including asking for a no-fly zone and further weapons, including fighter jets.
President Joe Biden later in the morning signed papers to send $800 million more in aid to Ukraine, adding to the approximately $1 billion in aid that has been sent by the United States in this past week alone.
Biden and NATO, though, have continued to reject Ukraine's pleas for a no-fly zone.
McCaul said Zelenskyy's address was "very powerful, very emotional," including the video showing Ukraine as it was before Russia started bombing it just three weeks ago and how it looks now.
"The images were extremely emotional," McCaul said. "A lot of members were in tears. We hadn't seen anything like this, really, since my father was in World War II."
He noted that he was in Poland this past weekend as part of a congressional delegation and observed the refugees flowing across the border from Ukraine.
"History will judge us for what we did when the bombing started and how did we help Ukraine," said McCaul. "I've been pressing the administration to do this for quite some time. I'm glad the weapons are finally going in."
He added that he is proud to say that S-300 anti-aircraft weapons are going into Ukraine as well as lethal drones.
"[Zelenskyy] talks about a no-fly zone," McCaul said. "They can create their own if we give them the military weapons."
Stinger missiles he added, are effective at downing helicopters, as shown as action taken against the Soviets in the war in Afghanistan, but the S-300s reach a high altitude, "sort of like our Patriot battery, an anti-aircraft system," said McCaul. "The fact they're in-country is going to be very effective."
The congressman further said he is impressed by the Ukrainian people and their resistance to Russia.
"We were told it would be over in three to four days, and here we are day 20 and the fight is still strong," he said. "We need to help them … I always say that the morale and the will of the Ukrainian people is stronger than the Russian soldiers'.
"I don't think the Russian soldiers even know why they're there. They've been lied to; they're going to liberate Ukraine from the Nazis, they say. When it comes to killing innocent civilians, they're not ready for that."