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Obama has no authority to decide what is constitutional. He is usurping the powers of the Supreme Court, which is the body appointed precisely to determine what is constitutional and what not.

This clever ploy of announcing that the President and his Justice Department have decided on their own that a law is unconstitutional is probably meant to keep it from ever being submitted to Supreme Court review.

Wake up and smell the sulphur, folks. Obama has NO authority to do this. He is trying to wrest authority from the Judiciary, which is exactly what Hugo Chavez and every tinpot dictator in Latin America and Africa has done.

“Obama has NO authority to do this.”

Actually, he has authority over what the AG defends. There’s plenty of precedent for this. However, you are correct that he does not have the authority to declare the law unconstitutional. The law remains in effect, and members of Congress can step in and defend it if he chooses not to. Some other posters have cleared this up quite nicely already. This is not the end for DOMA, by any means.

The President is every bit as involved in constitutional interpretation as the courts, by necessity. He takes an oath to uphold the Constitution, not obey the Supreme Court. A President cannot properly enforce an unconstitutional law, even if the courts say it is constitutional. Each President has to decide for himself which laws comport with the Constitution and which laws he cannot enforce without violating his oath.

As a practical matter most Presidents assume the constitutionality of all existing law that hasn't been overturned by the courts. But that doesn't mean they have to and special circumstances, like Obamacare, may justify a departure from the usual practice.

In our constitutional scheme only the executive has any power to give judgments practical effect. With power comes responsibility and that means Presidents can't avoid interpreting the Constitution. Of course, if Congress and the courts don't accept the President's understanding of his constitutional duties, he can be impeached and convicted. That won't happen if the President's position is popular, which means that the people get the final say, which is as it should be.

Obama has no authority to decide what is constitutional. He is usurping the powers of the Supreme Court, which is the body appointed precisely to determine what is constitutional and what not. This clever ploy of announcing that the President and his Justice Department have decided on their own that a law is unconstitutional is probably meant to keep it from ever being submitted to Supreme Court review. Wake up and smell the sulphur, folks. Obama has NO authority to do this. He is trying to wrest authority from the Judiciary, which is exactly what Hugo Chavez and every tinpot dictator in Latin America and Africa has done.

Worth Repeating.