Jonathan Turley: ‘Uber Presidency’ Being Created

Georgetown University Law Professor Jonathan Turley stated that the US is witnessing the rise of an “uber presidency” on Wednesday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.

On the president’s executive action on immigration and a recent court ruling on the action, Turley stated “we don’t have a license to go it alone in the United States. The scope of this type of action is legislative in nature, it’s huge, it affects millions. But, more importantly, it requires both the federal and state governments to spend a great deal of money, to support something that didn’t go through the legislative branch, and what people miss, and I think what this judge is trying to establish, is that that process of legislation is the very touchstone of our system, it’s what brings stability to our system. We have to agree, we have to compromise through legislation. When a president does it unilaterally, it takes that whole system off line and that can be dangerous thing.”

He continued, “we are at a tipping point, this process, this trend didn’t start with President Obama. We’ve seen this trend growing over the years. The center of gravity in our system, out three branch system is moving, and we’re creating this all-powerful presidency, this type of uber presidency. The really key to the Madisonian system is that nobody has enough power to go it alone, that was the genius of James Madison. But, what we’re seeing is the rise of a new model of presidency and I believe that the supporters of President Obama will rue the day when they stayed silent in the face of this kind of concentration of power.”

Turley later added, “the important thing is for people to understand that what we’re seeing is a change in our system. This is very serious. It has nothing to do with President Obama’s policies, some of us may agree with those. It’s how he’s doing it, not what he’s doing. and that should unite everyone,” and warned that the government was “de-evolving” from the intent of the framers of the Constitution and the emergence of “a different type of system.”

(h/t Real Clear Politics)

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett