Thomas Lucente: Emperor Obama ignores Constitution

On Thursday, President Barack Obama announced that he was using an executive order to shield up to 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation.

Such an action undoubtedly should produce positive economic results. And, after all, the immigration system is broken as Obama said in his speech.

Nor is Obama’s plan amnesty.

As he said, “Amnesty is the immigration system we have today. Millions of people who live here without paying their taxes or playing by the rules, while politicians use the issue to scare people and whip up votes at election time. That’s the real amnesty, leaving this broken system the way it is.”

There are certainly better reforms that could have been made, but, all in all, the reforms Obama is choosing to make are probably beneficial.

And wrong. Very, very wrong. So wrong, that the Congress should sue the president to overturn the reforms. So wrong that the Congress should do everything it can to defund his plans or override them.

Why?

Because the ends do not justify the means in a free society. Period.

We have a government of separated powers. The Congress makes the laws and the president enforces the laws. There is no provision in our Constitution that gives the president the power to make laws when he doesn’t like the laws, or the lack of laws, created by the Congress.

So even if the president crafted the greatest law in history, perhaps one that eliminated forever poverty or brought about world peace, it would be wrong. He simply does not have the power to do so.

Obama said it best in March 2011: “With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed. Congress passes the law. The executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement those laws. And then the judiciary has to interpret the laws.”

On Thursday, Obama did exactly what he said he could not do.

Some will argue that the president is simply using his executive discretion on how to enforce current law. But that is a specious argument. The president’s role is to “faithfully execute the laws of the United States.” If he refuses to enforce a law as the Congress intended, then he is essentially nullifying the law. That is a power reserved for the legislative branch. Only the Congress can do that.

Our trifurcated government is the result of two millennia of governmental evolution. It is perhaps the greatest form of government ever created. It was created by the experiences and philosophical musings of some of the greatest minds in history.

The idea of separation of powers is not only a necessary element to a constitutional republic, it is essential to preserving our liberties.

This idea of a separation of powers is enumerated in some of the greatest works in history from names such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Adam Smith, etc. Names our government school system used to teach to our children.

Montesquieu, for example, was an 18th century French social and political philosopher who wrote a book titled “Spirit of the Laws,” which inspired our Constitution. He wrote that the best way to promote liberty was to ensure the separation of powers into the judicial, legislative and executive branches, as we have done.

Yet, America’s leftists are giddy as the president violates the core principals that make us a free nation.

Often in political debate, the differences rest in the means rather than the ends. On many issues, Americans are in agreement, at least when it comes to the final outcome. We all agree our immigration system is broken. We simply disagree on how to fix it.

Still, that does not give the president the power to implement any plan he wishes.

Obama said it best in April 2011: “I know some here wish that I could just bypass Congress and change the law myself. But that’s not how democracy works. See, democracy is hard. But it’s right. Changing our laws means doing the hard work of changing minds.”

If only Emperor Obama would listen to President Obama.