“who DO these unctuous bumpkins think they ARE???”
A boss told me, (words to the effect of) “You’re as powerful as you want to be. If you think it’s right, just do it. Don’t ask for permission, just do it. If somebody doesn’t like it, let them try to stop you. Most likely nobody will say anything even if they don’t like it.”
If nobody does anything it’s defacto legal.
Words to remember.
The corollary to that is the old saying, which comes into effect most often when dealing with bureaucrats, “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission”.
The country as a whole is apathetic and does not care what he does. So he does whatever he wants knowing that nobody will stand up to him, least of all the weak and fearful Republicans in congress.
I’m surprised Obama hasn’t gone for a much bigger power grab than he has thus far. Why stop when nobody’s stopping you?