Not exactly. There's the little matter that the President and Congress are co-equal branches. Also, both the House and Senate must pass resolutions allowing a joint session. But you're right about the loss of "face" - not because Boehner is a subordinate, but because Obozo acted stupidly and had to back off.
I see, but I’m looking at it from the perspective of how the rest of the world will view it when they read about it. How the Chinese will view it, how the Arabs will view it, how the rest of the world’s leaders will view it, that sort of thing.