Yesterday, in the Washington Examiner, I saw a column by Cal Thomas entitled "Obama's duty is to enforce the law." (This column appears to have been syndicated to a lot of other publications; a Google search found multiple copies online.) Anyway, Thomas' position is that President Obama has no right to decide which laws he will enforce. And I suppose (although he does not mention it) Thomas' position is rooted in Article II, Section 3, Clause 4 of the Constitution: "he [the President] shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," which would in fact be a valid argument, except for one thing.
The President has taken an oath of office, which binds him to "preserve, protect, and defend" the Constitution. The Constitution is superior to all ordinary laws (see Article VI), and if DOMA is unconstitutional, the President has no obligation to defend it. And this is the point at issue.
Until the Supreme Court has ruled on the constitutionality of DOMA, Pres. Obama is bound by his oath of office to consider its constitutionality as open to determination. And if he truly believes the act to be unconstitutional, he is under no obligation to defend it. I'm sorry, Mr. Thomas, but here you are wrong, and the President is acting constututionally correctly.
The President has taken an oath of office, which binds him to "preserve, protect, and defend" the Constitution. The Constitution is superior to all ordinary laws (see Article VI), and if DOMA is unconstitutional, the President has no obligation to defend it. And this is the point at issue.
Until the Supreme Court has ruled on the constitutionality of DOMA, Pres. Obama is bound by his oath of office to consider its constitutionality as open to determination. And if he truly believes the act to be unconstitutional, he is under no obligation to defend it. I'm sorry, Mr. Thomas, but here you are wrong, and the President is acting constututionally correctly.
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