Rep. Ron Paul \nWASHINGTON - How would you like to be able to sue the President and his administration if you think one of his innumerable executive orders has compromised your individual rights - say, your privacy rights - a bridge too far?
You just might get that opportunity, if a House bill introduced by a Texas Republican who sits on the libertarian side of the fence survives.
Rep. Ron Paul's Separation of Powers Restoration Act would allow such lawsuits for executive orders thought to violate or harm individual rights and void many of the so-called national emergencies on the books since the 1970s - restoring authorization to declare them to Congress alone.
The bill gets its first public hearing next Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee, according to Conservative News Service.
Paul has already published commentary comparing President Clinton's use of executive orders - many of which have drawn heavy criticism - to the proclamations and edicts of King George. "One of the chief complaints of the American colonists against King George was that he had usurped powers that were not rightfully his, and then used those powers to the disadvantage of the people," Paul tells CNS.
"The most glaring example of our out-of-balance system is the power of the president to create laws through the use of the 'Executive Order'," he continues. "Our system grants all legislative power to the legislative branch, while Chief Executive exists to "faithfully execute" those laws."
One Clinton executive order was called "Working Group on Unlawful Conduct on the Internet" - issued Aug. 7. The group includes the Attorney General, Secretary of the Treasury, the director of the FBI, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Secretaries of Commerce and Education, and other federal officials the Attorney General deems appropriate.
Another one effectively takes America's economy under government control (by way of the Federal Emergency Management Agency) during a declared state of emergency - the U.S. now has 14 such emergency declarations.
