[davidjquackenbush]

Just one question: the letter concerns his action in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Do you question the constitutionality of that action? It is the one he is talking about.

I really don't mean to divert from the habeus corpus question, which I gather is what you are thinking about. But please indulge me by answering this particular question about the letter which you cited. Do you agree with Lincoln that the Emancipation Proclamation was a normally unconstitutional act, made constitutional because necessary to the preservation of the Union (among other reasons, I presume)?

[4CJ]

The only way anything unconstitutional can become constitutional, is for the Constitution to be amended.