WHY IT MATTERS: Executive Authority

WHERE THEY STAND

On immigration, Democrat Hillary Clinton has pledged that as president she would work to restore the Obama programs and go further. Republican Donald Trump said he would make sure Obama’s “unconstitutional actions” never come back.

But Republicans including House Speaker Paul Ryan have been openly concerned about some of Trump’s comments that suggest he, too, might pursue an “imperial presidency.” He’s supported reinstating waterboarding and other extreme forms of torture; has indicated he would revisit libel protections of journalists, notwithstanding the First Amendment; and has suggested the military would follow his orders even if illegal.

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WHY IT MATTERS

Obama claimed that congressional inaction gave him no choice but to act on his own on immigration. Indeed, as long as the House remains in GOP hands, action on a comprehensive immigration bill is unlikely, making presidential initiative a major arena of advancement on that issue.

However, the Constitution created a system of checks and balances meant to ensure that America could not be hijacked into becoming a monarchy like the one from which the nation had just freed itself. Republicans argue that under Obama, an undue amount of authority has accrued in the executive branch, and that to ensure the intended functioning of our democracy, that power must be checked. In this election season, a few lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, have campaigned on promises to check executive power next year no matter who is in the White House.

Obama has also used his executive authority to change certain elements of his health care law, and has flexed his authority in other areas as well, like the environment. The White House even mulled closing the Guantanamo Bay prison via executive action, though the administration ultimately did not pursue that route.

In 2014 Obama famously promised to get around a balky, GOP-led Congress with the tools at his disposal, saying “I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone” and pledging to use his pen to sign executive orders “that move the ball forward.”

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This story is part of AP’s “Why It Matters” series, which will examine three dozen issues at stake in the presidential election between now and Election Day. You can find them at: http://apne.ws/2bBG85a

EDITOR’S NOTE _ One in an AP series examining issues at stake in the presidential election and how they affect people

Erica Werner, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

WHY IT MATTERS: Executive Authority

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