Upholding The U.S. Constitution, One Judge At A Time

There have been two stories in the Washington Times recently regarding President Obama’s amnesty policy. The first appeared on December 7, and dealt with the fact that the case brought by the states regarding President Obama’s deportation amnesty have will be judged by Judge Andrew S. Hanen, a Bush appointee who issued a scorching rebuke to the Department of Homeland Security last year, accusing it of refusing to follow border security laws.

The second story, posted today, states:

A federal judge has found parts of President Obama’s new deportation amnesty to be unconstitutional, issuing a scathing memo Tuesday accusing him of usurping Congress’s power to make laws, and dismantling most of the White House’s legal reasoning for circumventing Congress.

Judge Arthur J. Schwab, sitting in the western district of Pennsylvania, said presidents do have powers to use discretion in deciding how to enforce the law, but said Mr. Obama’s new policy goes well beyond that, setting up a full system for granting legal protections to broad groups of individuals. He said Mr. Obama writing laws — a power that’s reserved for Congress, not the president.

The article explains that the memo does not invalidate the President’s policy, but it is a warning shot to the amnesty cases making their way through the courts. The President does have the power to use an executive order to clarify a law–he does not have the power to use an executive order to make law. That is one of the areas where the executive order on amnesty will be challenged.