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Article II

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creates the executive branch

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while Article I spells out what kind of laws Congress can make, Article II doesn't do this for the president

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it gives the president different roles and powers

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enforce the laws

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like a sheriff

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with the help of

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executive officers

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members of cabinet

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federal prosecutors

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FBI

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most of the government's workers

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president can control people under his command generally as he wants

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hire and fire

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tell them what to do

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for some high level positions, he can't hire without senate approval

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appoints federal judges

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conducts foreign affairs

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can make treaties with senate approval

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can enter into agreements on his own

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commander and chief of armed forces

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can't declare war

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this power is reserved to congress

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but if there is a war, he conducts it

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looking at this list of powers, the president is in a way secondary to congress

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Article II comes after Article I

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congress makes laws, the president enforces them

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congress declares a war, the president commands it

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but power has shifted away from congress and towards the president

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the basic reason is that congress has its own separation of powers

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two houses, 100 senators, hundreds of representatives

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rules like the filibuster which make it hard for even a majority to get much done

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the power of the executive branch, in contrast, is concentrated in one person

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can act quickly and decisively

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particularly in times of war

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during the Civil War, Lincoln did things that might not have been constitutional

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seized ships bound for Confederate ports

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Supreme Court eventually said that was not a violation of the Constitution

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suspended the writ of habeas corpus during Civil War

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this meant he could arrest people on his own and not have to explain why to a court

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tried to prosecute civilians in military commissions rather than Federal courts

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the Supreme Court ruled he couldn't do this

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announced he was freeing the slaves in Confederate States

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the Emancipation Proclamation is an unusual expansion of presidential power

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quite possibly not consistent with the Constitution

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in defense of these actions, Lincoln made the argument, "it was necessary"

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Franklin Roosevelt

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to fight Great Depression, he expanded the Federal government with The New Deal

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with the support of congress but over the opposition of the Supreme Court

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Court finally backed down

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to fight WWII

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prosecuted Nazi saboteurs in a military commission

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told Supreme Court he would defy an order to send them to Federal Court instead

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evacuated Japanese-Americans from Pacific Coast and detained them in camps

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elected four times

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Harry S Truman

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gets FDR presidency handed to him

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sends troops into Korea without congressional authorization

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argument was that it was a "United Nations police action" not an American war

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in order to provide steel to those troops, he seized steel mills to prevent strikes

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steel companies sued him, creating the Youngstown case

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we want the president to be able to save the nation when there is a crisis, but not be able to claim there is a crisis when none exists, or exaggerate one and use it as an excuse to take more power

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Justice Robert Jackson, three categories of presidential power

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1. congress approves of his actions

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his authority is at its maximum

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2. congress says nothing about this actions

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president can only rely on his own independent powers, or Congress and president can have concurrent authority

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3. congress disapproves of his actions

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president's power is at its lowest ebb

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in the Youngstown case, congress was opposed, court ordered him to hand the mills back, and he obeyed

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the party system complicates this

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since a Congress of the same part as the president is likely to support him whether or not his actions are Constitutional or not

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the Supreme Court has never ruled that the president is allowed to break the law in order to save the nation