This is Ask An Expert, where every weekday at 9:20 am, KCBS Radio is giving you direct access to top experts in various fields.

This week, a group of six Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds released a video, reminding military members of their right to refuse illegal orders.

The video caught the ire of the White House and comes amid rising tensions over domestic deployment and the U.S. strikes on alleged cartel boats in Venezuela.

To help us understand the definition of illegal military orders, KCBS's Steve Scott spoke with Rachel Vanlandingham, Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel. She is a national security and military law expert and law professor at the Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.