The Constitution is not a suicide pact.
Lincoln did what he had to do.
And if he had to imprison anyone who spoke out against the war and send his troops to murder a few hundred thousand people, so be it.
Funny you should mention that, given the federal inaction on immigration, and their downright refusal to allow states to enforce the law.
From Scalia's dissent regarding AZ's SB 1070:
Today’s opinion, approving virtually all of the Ninth Circuit’s injunction against enforcement of the four challenged provisions of Arizona’s law, deprives States of what most would con- sider the defining characteristic of sovereignty: the power to exclude from the sovereign’s territory people who have no right to be there. Neither the Constitution itself nor even any law passed by Congress supports this result.
[…]
Two other provisions of the Constitution are an acknowledgment of the States’ sovereign interest in protecting their borders. Article I provides that “[n]o State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws.” Art. I, §10, cl. 2 (emphasis added). This assumed what everyone assumed: that the States could exclude from their territory dangerous or unwholesome goods.
A later portion of the same section provides that “[n]o State shall, without the Consent of Congress, . . . engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.” Art. I, §10, cl. 3 (emphasis added). This limits the States’ sovereignty (in a way not relevant here) but leave sintact their inherent power to protect their territory.
Lincoln did what he had to do to save some collective abstrtaction “the Union”. He is repsonsible for the death of what would today be approx 7,000,000 Americans. Plus many more wounded and maimed. Makes al qaeda look like pikers.
Lincoln did what he had to do.
So, will you be among those that someday say “Obama did what he had to do?”
There is no excuse for tyranny, for ignoring the Constitution and only those who stand to gain will readily agree to do what he had to do.
“The Constitution is not a suicide pact.”
Yeah, it’s like the Mafia. Once in, never out.
“Lincoln did what he had to do.”
Yeh to keep the reveues flowing in so the Northern economy would not collapse. It had nothing to do with legitimately keeping the US together.
States have every right to secede from the Union. The states created the Federal govt not theother way around.