If you think that somehow applies to the events of the Spring of 1861, you best read the Militia Act of 1795 where the Congress gave the President the authority to do exactly what Lincoln did.
It seems the neo-rebs biggest complaint against Lincoln was that he simply didn't roll over and play dead, but instead used the tools given him by the Congress and the Constitution to crush treason.
That's about right.
It's as if the neo-rebs were saying, "how dare Lincoln shoot a snake in the grass!"
It galls them that he was so good at it.
Walt