Outside the Law

Statement

Does Congress have a shot clock? Is there a set amount of time wherein Congress has to act before the President gets to do what he wants? It certainly isn't in the Constitution, but that is the argument the President is making on his immigration policy.

Even while repeatedly telling Americans that he wasn't a "king" or "emperor," the President had directed his Homeland Security Secretary to secretly construct an executive order on immigration to prevent any deportation of more than 5 million people who had come illegally. The President said he could do this because the House failed to act on the Senate immigration proposal.

Somewhat ironically, this executive action comes the same week that the Senate rejected the House push to push forward the Keystone XL pipeline. This is a pipeline that the administration has been blocking for four years, ignoring the Congressionally-mandated process for how a pipeline should be approved. The President has just been sitting on the request, even though a majority in both houses of Congress and a majority of the American people support the project.

Should TransCanada, the company applying to build the pipeline, just start work? Has the shot clock run out on the President? I don't believe they should act outside the bounds, but neither should the President.

Right now, we are in an age of profound uncertainty when it comes to the government. This Obama administration, despite pledges of transparency, makes decisions behind closed doors that contradict what is clearly written in the law, and it's not just on immigration.

With the Affordable Care Act, the President got the health care reform bill that he had asked for. However, political maneuvering required to pass the bill meant that it was filled with potential problems.

Instead of coming back to Congress to rewrite the law, the administration has simply been ignoring many of the written requirements. Since 2010, they've made 38 unilateral changes to the law. This includes delays to the employer mandate despite the fact that there is no language in the law allowing a delay.

The Federal Communications Commission has tried to create new rules governing the Internet. Courts have struck them down multiple times, and now the President recently called for Internet providers to be regulated like utilities. However, there is no legal authority for this maneuver. It would take an act of Congress for the federal government to set these rules, but, yet again, the President seems intent on doing it without a change to the law.

In his first term, with both the Senate and House firmly in the grasp of the Democrats, the President failed to get Congressional approval for him climate proposals. But for the past few years, the Environmental Protection Agency has been crafting rules based on the old Clean Air Act. These rules could impose billions of dollars in new costs on energy production, raising rates for consumers and businesses.

The President tried to use his recess appointment power to name members to the National Labor Relations Board even though the Senate was actually in session. The Supreme Court unanimously struck down these appointments with liberal justice Stephen Breyer writing, "The Senate is session when it says it is."

The President's relationship with Congressional Republicans has always been rocky, but recently even Democrats on the Hill have been openly critical. The President says he wants to work with Congress, but his words and deeds don't seem to match up.

The Constitution was set up in a way to prevent any one of the three branches of government from claiming too much power. Apart from actions to defend our nation or dealing with foreign power, the President is supposed to be restrained by the Congress and the courts.

Barack Obama is a constitutional lawyer, but it seems that what he really learned in law school is how to work around the constitution, not within it. But Barack Obama has to justify his actions by citing statutes, even if the legal language is tortured. We could accomplish much more for the American people by working together. Executive action is ephemeral, the next President can sweep away these type of changes. If the President wants a real legacy, he has to do it through the law.

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