Gene Healy writes here about the problem of executive orders. When presidents can’t get what they want through Congress, they often find ways of accomplishing the same things via executive orders.
And exactly where in the Constitution does it say that the president can make new laws with just a stroke of his pen? That would no doubt be denounced as a question that IS NOT SERIOUS in some quarters, but it’s very serious to the health of our political system. Executive orders usurp the legislative power which is supposed to rest with Congress (not that Congress uses its authority responsibly). Executive orders are no different from monarchial decrees. This abuse of power needs to be stopped.
