I thought the constitution gave Congress or the States the right to make the determination of who was a citizen. Therefore, they would have the right to make that determination.
Omg
Yes, Congress was granted permission to determine who is a Citizen. They were not granted permission to alter who can be eligible for the Presidency, which is a different matter from being a Citizen.
That’s one reason the 1790 Naturalization Act had to be repealed in 1795. It allowed an additional class of people to be “considered as” natural born citizens, who were not under the Constitutionally understood meaning. Without a Constitutional amendment, Congress had altered access to the Presidency. That had to be remedied.
The written definition of “natural born citizen” is found in “Law of Nations”, a primary reference book used by Congress since before they wrote the Declaration of Independence.
“The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens.” - Law of Nations