“We are not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help that they need. I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone. And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward in helping to make sure our kids are getting the best education possible, making sure that our businesses are getting the kind of support and help they need to grow and advance, to make sure that people are getting the skills that they need to get those jobs that our businesses are creating.”
President Barack Obama ~ Opening remarks at January 14, 2014 Cabinet meeting

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) was probably recalling that little dictatorial proclamation from the chief executive when he was questioning the attorney general last Wednesday ~
 

 
Sen. Lee’s line of questioning was initially in the context of the government’s collection of metadata and the risk of abuse that’s inherent in that activity. He was attempting to learn from Holder how and when the attorney general had determined that the president’s actions were within the limits of his constitutional authority, [Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is required to review executive orders by the president to ensure they do not violate the Constitution] particularly with regard to,
 
1. delaying the enforcement of the employer mandate for Obamacare, and;
 
2. raising the minimum wage (as he had just proposed the night before during the State of the Union Address).
 
The response was mostly legal-sounding blather, the gist of which was that apparently Obama’s imperial prerogative is just an inherent power. Holder was unwilling or unable to cite specific authority- because there isn’t any.
 
Lee wasn’t amused by the attorney general’s obfuscation ~

“It’s one of the reasons why we have a Constitution, is to protect us against the excessive accumulation of power.”
 
(Looking at the “nature” of Obama’s use of executive orders, it is clear the president has) “usurped an extraordinary amount of authority within the executive branch.”

 
My how things have changed…

“The biggest problems that we’re facing right now have to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all. And that’s what I intend to reverse when I’m president of the United States of America.”
 
Senator Barack Obama ~ March 31, 2008

Related:
 
Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit alleging that the unilateral postponement of the employer mandate represents an “arbitrary and capricious” violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. At their last tally ~

The Obama administration has now unilaterally rewritten the Obamacare law at least 16 times by executive fiat. 😯

 
Chuck Grassley demands legal arguments behind Obama’s ‘pen and phone’ strategy ~

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter Monday to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, asking for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to disclose to the public its opinions and analyses of the president’s executive orders.

 
Good luck Chuck. The O’Ministration is never held accountable by the mainstream media, and the average American is oblivious. Holder and Obama will just shrug off these requests as usual.