Letter: The President, and Executive Orders

Dear Editor,

Republic: a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law. (Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary)

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Article I Section 1:

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. (Not in the President!)

Article I Section 2:

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States………

Article I Section 3: (as amended by the 17th Amendment)

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

So, my issue is this, where did the President of the United States get the power and the authority to issue “Executive Orders”? Which in my mind is like making “laws” the citizens have to obey without Congress. The President is not the “King” and I surely hope he has not assumed the power of a dictator.

So my question is, “By what authority does the President of the United States issue Executive Orders?”

Regards,

William L. Pletcher

Owego, N.Y.