As a lawyer and a former prosecutor, I know the limits of the power and authority of the president. I know what is legal and what is not.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I believe the attorney general or the deputy attorney general has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution and to give their independent legal advice to the President.
Outside of the Constitution we have no legal authority more than private citizens, and within it we have only so much as that instrument gives us. This broad principle limits all our functions and applies to all subjects.
It is the function of the President, representing the executive principle, to execute the laws.
Although the attorney general is a part of the president's team, you're really separate and apart. You have a special responsibility as the nation's chief law enforcement officer. There has to be a distance that you keep - between this department and the White House.
In my day, the president ruled with authority before the law, but now all that is lost.
The functions of the president are prescribed by the Constitution, but his real achievements are not set by the letter of the law. They are determined rather by his personality, the weight of his influence, his capacity for managing men, and the strength and effectiveness of the party forces behind him.
A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government.
The law always limits every power it gives.
If a president can enforce a part of a law and delay a part of a law, then does he have a power to not enforce any law he so chooses? If he can allow illegal aliens to freely run across our border, can he force legal citizens out of the country? Where would be the end of his power?
No one is above the law, not even the president. I believe perjury does meet at least the definition of high misdemeanor.
No opposing quotes found.