Quote Originally Posted by DesertDom View Post
The flaw in this belief is that the president can make an immediate law by issuing either a directive or an executive order. These basically bypass the checks and balances written into the constitution and have the full force and effect of a law. The constitution originally set up controls where one branch of the government can overrule another by following its normal procedure. EO's and directives basically work outside of those procedures.

Very, very bad thing if used unwisely. I'm not even sure if a court can overrule an executive order, I need to research this more.
..and don't forget "Signing Statements" that Bush has used more than any President in history. If I recall correctly he has doubled the total of all Presidents before him. This will probably end up playing out in the Supreme Court somewhere along the line as it is a real challenge to the checks and balances endemic to the constitution.

(For those who don't know, a signing statement is a formal document signed by the President that states certain parts of the law he is signing will not be enforced.)