Executive Power Under Art. II

 

Art. II explicitly adopts the unitary executive theory of the Presidency—the Executive Branch is one and that one is the President. Art. II puts it this way: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States.”

As Paulsen puts it (p. 56), although the Executive branch of government is staffed by thousands of executive officials, both petty and powerful, “All who work for the federal government do so under the authority of, and subject to the direction of, the President.” 

In Federalist 70, Hamilton explained why a unitary executive was created by the Constitution (Paulsen at 57): “That unity is conducive to energy will not be disputed. Decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch will generally characterize the proceedings of one man in a much more eminent degree than the proceedings of any greater number; and in proportion as the number is increased, these qualities will be diminished.”

This is especially true when the Nation is at war: “In the conduct of war…the energy of the executive is the bulwark of national security.”  Id.

No time to debate and appoint a committee to make recommendations, we need the energy and decisiveness of one—of one President, one Commander-in-Chief.

As Paulsen concludes, under Art. II of the Constitution, “the President of the United States is the executive branch and possesses all of its power.” Paulsen at 57.

Which Powers Are for Congress and Which are for the President

Under Art. I, section 1, “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” All means all—the President has no power to make law. 

What about the thousands upon thousands of regulations promulgated year after year by executive agencies? Are these regulations laws made by Executive authority?

The President may recommend legislation [Art. II, section 3], and he may veto bills enacted by Congress [Art. I, section 7], but Congress may override a Presidential veto by a two-thirds vote of each House, in which case the bill will “become a Law” without the President’s signature.

The veto power is an awesome power, but it is a negative power, the power to stop a bill from becoming law unless two-thirds of each House votes to override the veto.