The following is from an entry in Talking Points Memo. Marshall is referring to a WSJ article, which requires a subscription
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But that whole discussion is different in kind from one passage in the report. I quote from the piece ...
To protect subordinates should they be charged with torture, the memo advised that Mr. Bush issue a "presidential directive or other writing" that could serve as evidence, since authority to set aside the laws is "inherent in the president."
So the right to set aside law is "inherent in the president". That claim alone should stop everyone in their tracks and prompt a serious consideration of the safety of the American republic under this president. It is the very definition of a constitutional monarchy, let alone a constitutional republic, that the law is superior to the executive, not the other way around. This is the essence of what the rule of law means -- a government of laws, not men, and all that.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_06_06.php#003046