SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's rebels on Thursday welcomed the U.S. Senate vote to end America's support for their adversary, the Saudi-led coalition, which has been fighting the rebels in the impoverished Arab country.

The vote by the Senate on Wednesday brought the Congress one step closer to an unprecedented rebuke of President Donald Trump's foreign policy. It also put Congress on a collision course with Trump, who has already threatened to veto the resolution.

A top negotiator and spokesman for the rebels, known as Houthis, said the vote was a "positive step" because the U.S. support for the coalition only "prolongs the conflict and the humanitarian crisis."

"In reality, America is the one ... selling weapons, and providing support" to the coalition, Mohammed Abdel-Salam told The Associated Press.

Yemen's conflict erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee abroad.

The Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened the following year, waging a destructive air campaign in support of Yemen's government. The conflict has killed thousands and left millions on the brink of starvation, creating what the United Nations called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. It has also left it fragmented along tribal, regional, and political lines.

The West, including the U.S., has provided the coalition with billions of dollars in arms, in addition to logistical support.

The powerful Houthi leader, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, who heads the so-called Supreme Revolutionary Committees, also hailed the vote and called upon other Western countries to take similar steps against what he described as "American, British, Israeli, Saudi, and Emirati hegemony over Yemen."

Trump's support for Saudi Arabia has been a point of tension with Congress since the killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year. Lawmakers from both parties have criticized Trump for not condemning Saudi Arabia strongly enough for the killing.

In addition to arms, U.S. military experts have acted as advisers to the Saudi and Emirati command centers in Riyadh and elsewhere, and a U.S. pullout could also impact intelligence gathering.

As Saudi-led coalition airstrikes claimed hundreds of lives over the years, mostly in northern Yemen where the Houthis are based, the U.S. insisted it plays no role in targeting Yemenis.

After the vote in the Senate, the White House argued that the premise of the resolution was flawed and that it would undermine the fight against extremism. U.S. support for the Saudis does not constitute engaging in "hostilities," the statement said, and the Yemen resolution "seeks to override the president's determination as commander in chief."

It's unclear how the decision could impact the U.S. fight against al-Qaida in Yemen where America has been carrying out a drone campaign against the terror network's franchise after it claimed responsibility for failed terrorist attacks in the U.S.