The whole "debate" took place in the offices of nine men in Washington DC, and at the end, 7 of them overruled the other 2 and that was that.
The opinions of tens of millions of citizens were irrelevant, as were the laws of states that outlawed it. What was a crime the prior day was converted into a "right" the next day.
From that point on, the debate had ended.
Bingo.