Beryl Howell: “His attempt to do so here is blatantly illegal, and his constitutional arguments to excuse this illegal act are contrary…”

A President who touts an image of himself as a ‘king’ or a ‘dictator,’ perhaps as his vision of effective leadership, fundamentally misapprehends the role under Article II of the U.S. Constitution.

It sends chills down my spine when you say that if the president in his view has the position that an individual, or an entity, or a company is operating a way that is not in the nation’s interest, he can issue an executive order like this.

The chilling effect of this executive order ... threatens to significantly undermine the integrity of our entire legal system.

The president's interpretation of the scope of his constitutional power — or, more aptly, his aspiration — is flat wrong.