Imperial Presidency

The American Bar Association has published a report concluding that the President is violating the Constitution by choosing to ignore provisions in laws. From the CNN story:

President Bush's penchant for writing exceptions to laws he has just signed violates the Constitution, an American Bar Association task force says in a report highly critical of the practice.

The ABA group, which includes a one-time FBI director and former federal appeals court judge, said the president has overstepped his authority in attaching challenges to hundreds of new laws.

The attachments, known as bill-signing statements, say Bush reserves a right to revise, interpret or disregard measures on national security and constitutional grounds[emphasis mine].

Essentially, King George is arguing that he can pick and choose which portions of a law the executive branch will follow. I don’t recall that be covered in civics class.