Marty Wiseman: Obama not alone in using executive orders
There has been quite an “end zone dance” of late by conservative Republicans across the bitterly anti-Obama red states. The reason for such unbridled glee centers upon President Obama’s failure to persuade the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to undo an injunction by a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas. This injunction blocks the implementation of Obama’s executive order allowing some 5 million mostly Hispanic immigrants to remain in this country indefinitely on a special work status. As usual anytime anti-Obama ire is aroused in these parts, his legions of detractors engage in an abundance of hyperbole to describe the historic seriousness of the president’s alleged missteps that resulted in his efforts being thwarted.
In the case of his immigration related executive order, Obama acted out of necessity given the Republican Congress’s refusal to budge on the increasingly troublesome issue. There was little doubt in anyone’s mind that the involvement of the third “co-equal” branch of government — the judiciary — would be necessary to determine the constitutional propriety of President Obama’s unilateral action. In reality, there is ample precedent since the founding of the nation for presidents to test the power of the office against a recalcitrant legislative branch and the judgment of the Supreme Court.
ClarionLedger
6/11/15
Magnolia Tribune
