He should have gotten an Opinion from the Attorney General that the bill was unconstitutional. Then he should have signed the bill into law, but also instructed the Solicitor General to go into court that day, seeking an injuction against ANY use of or application of that law, pending Supreme Court review.
(The President directs the position taken by the Solicitor General, At least five times the SG has been directed not to defend a federal law, but to attack it instead, because the President believed it to be unconstitutional.)
Never, however, has any President both signed a law and directed the Solicitor General to attack it in court on the same day. This could have resulted in a Supreme Court decision striking the law BEFORE the November Election, which would have defanged the Democrats and vindicated the (mostly) Republicans who condemned this bill.
My colleagues and I will now seek to have this entire law declared unconstitutional. We will do that not for the sake of the dishonest President, but on behalf of the Constitution that is under attack.
I SAID THIS BEFORE, AND REPEAT IT NOW. IF WE DO NOT GET THIS LAW DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL, I WILL RESIGN FROM THE BAR OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND NEVER ENTER ITS BUILDING AGAIN.
Congressman Billybob
It will be a sad day indeed. I just hope the cameraman gets a good wide shot so that we can see McCain and Dashole urinating on a copy of the Constitution in the background.