Ted Poe: “The State of the Union is tonight, but the President has already said that he would ignore Congress if he doesn't have…”

“The State of the Union is tonight, but the President has already said that he would ignore Congress if he doesn't have his way. He is going to rule by pen and phone: the pen to write down laws and executive orders, bypassing Congress; the phone to call lower-level operatives I suppose, like the EPA, the IRS, NSA, and impose new rules and, thus, again, bypassing Congress. Mr. Speaker, nowhere in the Constitution is the phrase ``executive order.'' It is not in this Constitution. This is not an imperial kingdom where the ruler makes his own rules as he goes along. We all learned in ninth-grade civics that Congress makes the law, and the President can approve or disapprove it. It is in the Constitution. Rather than rule by pen and phone, the President should be bound by the law and rule by the Constitution and by his oath, but the Constitution seems to be a mere suggestion to this administration. Madam Speaker, this is America; it is not Burger King. The President cannot always have it his way. And that's just the way it is. ____________________”