Lincoln went outside the Constitution a number of times, but he never showed contempt for it. Which is why he wanted the 13th amendment.
Contempt? The War itself was contemptuous.
There was no ‘Civil’ War. The South did not wish to rule from D.C. They only wished to rule themselves, as they saw fit, in accordance WITH the Constitution.
It was Lincoln who had the idea of an unbreakable Union, which, to me, flies in the face of the Founders. Our own Declaration states “Free and independent States”; the Constitution only granted D.C. those power DELEGATED to it by the People or States. What is so given can be rescinded.
IE: The South had (has) every Right to take back any/all powers when they felt (feel) the Federal gov’t has overstepped its bounds.
But, I digress. A debate for another thread/time :)