Andrew Johnson actually said...

To pronounce the supreme lawmaking power of an established state illegal is to say that law itself is unlawful.

All the information I have on the subject convinces me that the masses of the Southern people and those who control their public acts [...] ...

For these reasons I return the bill to the Senate, in which House it originated, for the further consideration of Congress which the Constit...

The subject was long and earnestly debated in the Senate, and the early construction of the Constitution was, nevertheless, freely accepted ...