“The powers of the legislature are defined, and limited; and that those limits may not be mistaken or forgotten, the constitution is written.”
- Chief Justice John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison (1803)
"Now consider what Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 33:"
“But it will not follow from [the Constitution] that acts of the [federal government] which are NOT PURSUANT to its constitutional powers, but which are invasions of the residuary authorities of the [states], will become the supreme law of the land. These will be merely acts of usurpation, and will deserve to be treated as such.“"Simply put, when the federal government acts outside its constitutional powers, it should be considered an act of usurpation.
Clearly, any branch of government operating outside the bounds of their limited authority is unconstitutional, but the problem appears that nothing has been clearly codified. If our legal system gave the same consideration to high crimes, treason, and usurpations as it did to, say, fraud and murder, our elected and appointed officials would know precisely what they could–and couldn’t–get away with."
Stay safe.
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