IIRC, it didn’t free anyone in the United States,
but just in the Confederate States,
in which, at the time of the Proclamation, it had no authority.
Correct. It freed no one. It was an unconstitutional ploy by the original lawless president.
It could only affect the status of slaves in those areas of the Confederacy (an entity never recognized by the U.S. government) under Union Army control and by inference that of its commander in chief, which at the time were considerable and only grew as the war went forward. So the question is does Obama consider the entire United States to be in a state of rebellion, and does he believe (more importantly do the people who would put this order into action believe) that he has any authority to ignore and overthrow existing law in the absence of such rebellion? Pelosi is nuts but even more so stupid to make this comparison. If it’s war that they want they may just get it.