The Suspensive Power: 21st Century Edition

In the 17th century it was called "the suspensive power", referring to Kings declining to enforce laws passed by Parliament, and it cost King Charles his head. Now our President is applauded for getting around a do-nothing Congress--at least when the President does things that please the chattering class--but there are reasons for concern:

Why Presidents Resort to Policy-Based Non-Enforcement, and Why It’s Concerning | The Volokh ConspiracyThe Volokh Conspiracy: "Yet for all the reasons that non-enforcement may be attractive to the executive branch as a policy tool — its circumvention of Congress, the limited political constraints on its use, and the unlikelihood of judicial reversal — it may also be insidious. An unbounded authority to decline enforcement could amount to a sort of second veto, an authority to read statutory provisions out of the code, at least for the duration of a particular presidency."

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