Featured Appearances
In the Courts — TV Interview League of Women Voters
Katie Barlow, Fox 5 DC Presidential Power Under the Constitution: History, Limits, and the Rule of Law
Discussion of Supreme Court limits on presidential power Examining the constitutional structure and limits of presidential power
Aired: September 2025 March 10, 2026 [click here]
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Podcast Appearance — Politics with Paul Podcast — Consider the Constitution
Conversation on historical checks on presidential power Conversation about presidential power at James Madison’s Montpelier
Released: November 2025 Released: March 2026
James Madison’s Montpelier
Grand Salon discussion of presidential power and constitutional limits
Released: March 2026
SHORT-FORM VIDEO SERIES
Beginning January 26, 2026, I launched a multi-week initiative to bring clear, plain-English explanations of the Constitution and presidential power to a wider public audience.
Each weekday, I post a new 60-90 second video on TikTok, Instagram Reels, You Tube, and LinkedIn.
These videos cover landmark Supreme Court cases on presidential power, myths and misunderstandings about presidential authority, historical constititional crises, emergency powers, the limits on the executive branch and the president, how presidents challenge the Court, and how the Court checks presidents.
This page serves as an archive of the full series.
Week 1 — January 26-31
Video 1: “A Republic — If You Can Keep It” Video 2: Separation of Powers Prevents Abuse of Power Video 3: The Presidency - A Powerful Office Bound by Law
Why Benjamin Franklin’s famous statement is relevant today Why the separation of law-making powers is so important Why the Framers constrained the powers of the presidency
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Video 4: The Judiciary’s Constitutional Role Video 5: Judging Power — Not Personalities Video 6: Arresting Journalists and the Constitution
Why the judiciary is essential to the preservation of liberty Why presidential power is about the law, not personalities What the arrest of Don Lemon says about presidential power
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Week 2 — February 2-6
Video 7: Presidential Power and Immigration Enforcement Video 8: Presidential Speech Is Not Presidential Power Video 9: Can a President Suspend the Constitution?
When a president can use ICE under the Constitution Why a president’s words alone do not exercise power When emergencies reveal the strength of constitutional commitment
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Video 10: Can a President Cancel Congressional Elections? Video 11: Why America Needed George Washington First
The Constitution’s definitive answer The nation’s first president chose restraint over power
Week 3 — February 9-13
Video 12: When Congress Stops Checking the President Video 13: Why Martial Law Is Not a Presidential Switch Video 14: Why Founders Limited the Presidency
The danger of one-party control of government It’s not a button a president can simply hit How the Founders carefully engineered the executive office
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Video 15: Can a President Declare Control Over a Country? Video 16: Can Troops Patrol U.S. Cities?
Presidential authority depends on legal authorization The constitutional tradition has been very restrictive
Week 4 — February 16-20
Video 17: Can a President Rename National Symbols? Video 18: What “Faithfully Execute the Law” Means Video 19: Is a President Above the Law?
Such symbols are not matters of personal presidential discretion A president is the executor of the law, not its author or editor The rule of law applies at the highest levels of government
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Video 20: Disagreement Built the Constitution Video 21: A President’s Use of Lethal Force
But the Founders agreed on what mattered most The authority to use lethal force does not arise out of office alone
Week 5 — February 23-27
Video 22: Tariffs — A President Reined In Video23: Understanding Presidential Power Video 24: Can a President Defy the Supreme Court?
A textbook example of how our constitutional system works What the Constitution actually says about such power What has been the history of this for nearly 240 years?
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Video 25: When Presidents Overreach on Imprisonment Video 26: Why the Founders Chose One President
Presidents do not have unchecked power to imprison people History shows plural executives do not work
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Week 6 — March 2-6
Video 27: Why Majority Rule Isn’t Enough Video 28: War Powers and the Constitution Video 29: Term Limits for Federal Judges?
Why majorities can be just as tyrannical as kings Who has the authority to take the nation to war? Can Congress do this with ordinary legislation?
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Video 30: Is America on the Verge of Collapse? Video 31: What Courts Can — and Cannot — Do
No guarantees - but history would suggest otherwise The judiciary does not sit as a super-legislature
Week 7 — March 9-13
Video 32: Why Congress Rarely Declares War Video 33: Why Presidents Aren’t Kings Video 34: The Supreme Court and Presidential POwer
The Framers expected Congress to play the central role The Framers did not create a national ruler My book on that very subject
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Video 35: Presidential Power Abroad — And Its Limits Video 36: The Character of a Nation
Deference, yes — but not unlimited authority Political institutions reflect the people they govern
Week 8 — March 16-20
Video 37: When Can a President Be Impeached? Video 38: Can a President Forgive Federal Crimes? Video 39: Why No President Has Unlimited Power
The constitutional mechanism for serious abuses of authority And are any limits placed on such a power? The separation of powers is designed to prevent such power
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Video 40: Why Presidents Don’t Appoint Justices Alone Video 41: Why Is a President’s Term Four Years?
How the answer reflects a central principle of the Constitution The Framers were trying to balance two competing concerns
Week 9 — March 23-27
Video 42: Three Things a President Cannot Do Video 43: Can a President Pardon Himself? Video 44: Can the Military Say No to the President?
The presidency is powerful — but not unlimited The Constitution does not answer every question The answer lies in a deeply rooted principle in U.S. law
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Video 45: Can a President Refuse to Leave Office? Video 46: Can a President Seize Ballots with the Military?
In our system, authority follows the office — not the person The division of election authority was not accidental
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Week 10 — March 30-April 3
Video 47: Why Does a President Take an Oath? Video 48: Why Don’t Americans Vote Directly for President? Video 49: Can a President Decide Who Is an American?
The answer goes to the heart of the Constitution The Framers saw the Electoral College as the solution Presidential judgment is not constitutional demand
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Video 50: Why Must a President Be 35? Video 51: Why Judicial Independence Matters
This minimum requirement is not arbitrary And why it’s not tied to any one decision or moment
Week 11 — April 6-10
Video 52: Why Does the President Have a Veto? Video 53: Can a President Tear Down the White House? Video 54: Who Wins: The President or the Courts?
Why give that kind of power to one person? The answer highlights an important constitutional principle The Constitution anticipates this contest
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Week 12 — April 13-17
Video 55: Can a President Pressure the Pope? Video 56: Can a President Start a War Alone? Video 57: Can the President Control College Sports?
Such an action can be a warning sign The Framers’ intentional division of that power The answer raises a deep question about presidential power
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Week 13 — April 20-24
Video 58: What If a President Can’t Do the Job? Video 59: Can a President Launch a Nuclear Strike? Video 60: Has a President Ever Been Removed from Office?
In moments of uncertainty, the rule of law still governs And what if the order to launch is unlawful? The bar is high, because the constitutional stakes are high
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Week 14 — April 27-May 1
Video 61: Have US Presidents Ever Been Assassinated? Video 62: Has a President Ever Resigned? Video 63: Is Presidential Power the Same as Personal Power?
The answer reveals an important feature of governance How the rule of law is supposed to work What’s at stake is not just one presidency or person
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Week 15 — May 4-8
Video 64: The Voting Rights Act and Presidential Power Video 65: Can a President Target Political Rivals? Video 66: What Is the Supreme Court’s “Shadow Docket”?
Defining what a President can and cannot do And use the Justice Department to do so? The practice isn’t new — see what has changed
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Week 16 — May 11-15
Video 67: Should Supreme Court Justices Have Term Limits?
Judicial independence v. democractic accountability