Flaps over executive orders go back to Lincoln’s time
Good read.
http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2014/11/flaps-over-executive-orders-go-back-to-lincolns-time/
Flaps over executive orders go back to Lincoln’s time
President Barack Obama and his Republican opponents are engaged in yet another fight over his use of executive orders, but the use of this powerful presidential tool is hardly new.
The current controversy over President Barack Obama’s use of executive orders has many Republicans steamed and Democrats on the defensive, including a new battle over immigration actions threatened by Obama for almost a year – to be delivered by executive orders.
Several landmark moments in American history came about directly from the use of executive orders from the White House’s desk, including one Supreme Court decision that limited one presidential executive order issued by Harry Truman.
The constitutional base for the executive order is the president’s broad power to issue executive directives. According to the Congressional Research Service, there is no direct “definition of executive orders, presidential memoranda, and proclamations in the U.S. Constitution, there is, likewise, no specific provision authorizing their issuance.”
But Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests executive powers in the President, makes him the commander in chief, and requires that the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Laws can also give additional powers to the President.
The order is a directive from the president that has much of the same power as a federal law. And like a federal law, Congress can pass a new law to override an executive order, subject to a presidential veto.
Every President since George Washington has used the executive order power in various ways. Washington’s first orders were for executive departments to prepare reports for his inspection, and a proclamation about the Thanksgiving holiday.
In terms of executive orders, quality counts as much as quantity, and several significant Obama executive orders have some conservatives rallying around a lawsuit against the president, as well as threatening impeachment or a government shutdown.
There have been significant decisions made via executive orders and presidential proclamations.
http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2014/11/flaps-over-executive-orders-go-back-to-lincolns-time/