Michael McConnell: Obama Suspends the Law

[Valin]

WSJ:

Like King James II, the president decides not to enforce laws he doesn't like. That's an abuse of power.

 

MICHAEL W. MCCONNELL

 

President Obama's decision last week to suspend the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act may be welcome relief to businesses affected by this provision, but it raises grave concerns about his understanding of the role of the executive in our system of government.

 

Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution states that the president "shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." This is a duty, not a discretionary power. While the president does have substantial discretion about how to enforce a law, he has no discretion about whether to do so.

 

This matterthe limits of executive powerhas deep historical roots. During the period of royal absolutism, English monarchs asserted a right to dispense with parliamentary statutes they disliked. King James II's use of the prerogative was a key grievance that lead to the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The very first provision of the English Bill of Rights of 1689the most important precursor to the U.S. Constitutiondeclared that "the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of parliament, is illegal."

 

To make sure that American presidents could not resurrect a similar prerogative, the Framers of the Constitution made the faithful enforcement of the law a constitutional duty.

 

(Snip)