Obama shouldn’t be changing laws

Philip Cohen, Las Vegas

Friday, Oct. 18, 2013 | 2:02 a.m.

Obamacare is the law of the land. Every day the president and Sen. Harry Reid remind us that the law was passed by Congress, signed by the president and found constitutional by the Supreme Court. They say the law should be implemented as written.

In the law, there are provisions that certain things are to happen by a certain date. For example, there is a corporate mandate to provide health care. The law doesn’t say it would be a good thing to happen; it says it will happen. And yet, the president has been making changes. He’s delaying parts he wants to delay and granting waivers to special interests.

If Obamacare is a valid law, how can the president make these changes? What legal authority does he have? Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says the president, “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Nothing in the Constitution says he has the power to change laws. That is a power granted to Congress.

President Barack Obama has taken similar action with other laws, deciding on his own which ones he’ll enforce and which ones to ignore. That is a violation of his oath of office and a violation of the Constitution.

No president should have the power to decide which laws to enforce or what parts of laws he’ll implement. It’s time for this president to be held accountable. Since he’s immune from the ballot box, it’s time for every member of Congress to speak out. Not in a partisan way but in defense of the Constitution. If the president doesn’t want to listen, the Constitution provides for appropriate action.