To address that question, first note that the Founding States had delegated the power to appropriate the funds for Congress to perform its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited duties solely to the House of Representatives. This is evidenced by the Constitution's Clause 1 of Section 7 of Article I. The problem concening Obama's education program is that, with the exception of the federal entities indicated in the Constitution's Clause 16 & 17 of Section 8 of Article I as examples, entities under the exclusive legislative control of Congress, the states have never deleated to Congress, via the Constitution, the specific power to tax and spend for intrastate schooling purposes.
In fact, Justice John Marshall had clarified that Congress is prohibited from laying taxes in the name of state power issues, essentially any issue which Congress cannot justify under its Constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers.
“Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
But regardless that the question as to where Obama must get the funding for any of his official actions has been answered (he must get it from Congress), the next question is where is Congress getting the funding to support Obama's student loan program since Congress doesn't have the constitutional authority to tax and spend in the name of intrastate schooling? And the answer to that question comes from visionary Thomas Jefferson, a promoter of education.
“The great mass of the articles on which impost is paid is foreign luxuries, purchased by those only who are rich enough to afford themselves the use of them. Their patriotism would certainly prefer its continuance and application to the great purposes of the public education, roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects of public improvement as it may be thought proper to add to the constitutional enumeration of federal powers [emphases added].” —Thomas Jefferson: 6th Annual Message, 1806.
Jefferson clearly indicated to amend the frigging Constitution to grant Congress the specific power to tax and spend for public schooling purposes.
So what Obama and “sleeping” Congress must ultimately do to finance Obama's student load project is the following. Obama must inspire Congress to propose a student loan amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification, just as he should have done for constitutionally indefensible Obamacare Democratcare. And if the states choose to ratify Obama's amendment then Congress will have the power to lay taxes to fund Obama's vote-winning student loan program and Obama will be a hero.
As I recall as a student LBJ was asked to write about what the constitution said on education. He turned in a long treatise. The professor marked it all wrong and told him the Constitution didn’t say anything about education.
He resented the low mark and said he would work to change that. It’s too bad he didn’t learn the correct lesson.