Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MA), chair of the House Oversight Committee, on Sunday predicted that history will "smile upon" the lawmakers who pursue the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

In an interview on Face the Nation, CBS host Bob Schieffer noted that several high profile Democrats are calling for impeachment proceedings to begin due to the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation report.

"This is a political act, and if you do vote to impeach him and then the Senate votes not to remove him, won’t that look like a victory for him?" Schieffer wondered.

"It may very well, but you know, sometimes, Bob, I got to tell you, there comes a point in life where we all have to make decisions based upon the fact that it is on our watch," Cummings replied. "History, I think, even if we did not win possibly, if there were not impeachment, I think history would smile upon us for standing up for the Constitution."

"You know, I hear a lot of people say they’re tired of hearing about the Mueller report," he continued. "Well, we don’t have time to get tired, because the Russians aren’t getting tired. They are attacking our electoral system every single day, if not every hour."

"We can not afford that. Our democracy cannot afford that," Cummings added.