"Executive branch brings charge and a trial is held with a jury to decide if defendant does, in fact, meet the definition specified by Congress. "
Nope. Not in the Constitution and has never been done.
The Habeas Corpus petition- and due process- is all they get , the court decides if they are rightly held under the congress's definition of combatant.
You may not like this but it is Constitutional and it is arguably a fair balance of liberty and security.
That is just the point, they are NOT getting due process or access to the courts for a Habeus petition.
Padilla is incommunicado-no lawyer can see him. How do you file a habeus petition from a prison cell without help from the outside???
What due process means is that EVERYONE, even people that you don't like, get a day in court and that includes a jury trial if there are any penalties that exceed $20. Please read the sixth and seventh amendment again and You will see that ANY criminal charge gets a jury trial. Being an illegal combatant is nothing but a criminal charge that must be resolved by a jury trial. That is exactly what the constitution requires.