Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Presidential Oath of Office
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States."
This bill tears the first amendment apart. It specifically exempts the press from the onerous 60 day provisions. It is a disgrace and no President should sign it.
I agree with you that all things being equal, a president should not sign something that he believes to be unconstitutional. But could not Bush say, that I regret that this Bill has provisions that I believe to be unconstitutional, but I am confident SCOTUS will promptly address those elements, and the Bill provides for fast tracking those issues? There are other provisions in the Bill, which are not unconsitutional, which I favor, and the bill has a severability clause which will allow those elements to survive even as SCOTUS sugically slices away the excesses. And the only way to get these good elements into law is for me to now sign this bill, with all its flaws. I do so ONLY BECAUSE I am CONFIDENT that those flaws will be struck down by SCOTUS, and thus will never have the pernicious effect of traducing the fundamental right of our citizens to free speech.
Or something like that. :)