Editor, multi-column searching, single button search trigger

Using editor server-side processing with multi-column searching https://datatables.net/examples/api/multi_filter.html. Dealing with a rediculous database (~14 billion rows, yes, that's a 'B'). Already made changes to the backend scripts to speed up processing (ie., instead of count(*), use system tables to pull row counts, or look directly at parition data versus table scans, etc). Currently trying to trigger a search via a button click, versus changes in input data.

I've disabled the listeners for change/click/keyup on the input fields, no problem. I've found countless examples of how people have done this, but for whatever reason it doesn't add up. I've tried ...

$.fn.dataTable.ext.buttons.search = {
  text: 'Search',
  action: function ( ) {
  }
};

var table = $('#default').DataTable( {
  buttons: [
    'search'
  ]
} );

But it doesn't seem like $(this) or var table actually makes it to the function call of the button itself. If I try to define the function as a loop through table.columns(), it doesn't understand the draw function, which is why it makes me think I'm expecting it to know something it doesnt.

I've tried a number of other methods that seem to focus on the global filter, which is obviously only one box versus multiple. Can I get a hint?