Is The President Above The Law?

Meet The Press transcript for February 12, 2006:

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Roberts, it seems as though the president is saying, “This is a law that’s on the books from 1978”...

SEN. ROBERTS [Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee]: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: ...”but it’s an old law, and my program doesn’t work under that law, so I’m just going to set it aside.” What is the authorization for the president to undertake this program, and did he violate a statute...

SEN. ROBERTS: No.

MR. RUSSERT: ...called FISA?

SEN. ROBERTS: No. The president has the constitutional authority. It rises above any law passed by the Congress. President Roosevelt did that during World War II. Every president has done that under the Constitution, saying that the president has the primary duty to protect our national security.

Later in the program,

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Roberts, let me ask you a very serious question. Do you believe that the Constitution gives the president of the United States the authority to do anything he believes is necessary to protect the country?

SEN. ROBERTS: Yes...

[Lesson: No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority]