[terry]

I would not be so quick to dismiss the federal government's power to override states restricting church meetings. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the US Constitution and so overrides any state law.  The executive branch of the government has in the past sent troops into states to enforce what the federal government saw as constitutional rights.  

I'm not dismissing the federal government's power to override states on this issue. Rather, I said that Trump has no authority to override the decisions of the governors. 

Whether state laws are unconstitutional is not for the President to decide. The President has not been granted some kind of free-floating, unilateral power to review whichever state laws catch his attention and to strike them down by fiat. That's not how the system works. 

Rather, the power of reviewing the constitutionality of state laws belongs to the courts, not the President. Someone who is affected by a state law may challenge that law in the courts (state or federal). If the courts declare a state action unconstitutional, they have the power to strike down that action and to order an appropriate remedy.

You mentioned the executive branch sending in troops to enforce constitutional rights. I assume you're talking about enforcement of federal court desegregation orders. The President didn't just wake up one morning and say "You know what, I think segregated schools are unconstitutional and I'm going to send in troops to fix it." Rather, the troops were sent in only after the federal courts -- including the Supreme Court -- had declared the state laws unconstitutional and the state governments had defied or refused to enforce the federal courts' orders.

Trump said that he was going to override the state governors' orders. But he just doesn't have that power. Period.

[terry]

I would not be so quick to dismiss the federal government's power to override states restricting church meetings. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the US Constitution and so overrides any state law.  The executive branch of the government has in the past sent troops into states to enforce what the federal government saw as constitutional rights.  

I'm not dismissing the federal government's power to override states on this issue. Rather, I said that Trump has no authority to override the decisions of the governors. 

Whether state laws are unconstitutional is not for the President to decide. The President has not been granted some kind of free-floating, unilateral power to review whichever state laws catch his attention and to strike them down by fiat. That's not how the system works. 

Rather, the power of reviewing the constitutionality of state laws belongs to the courts, not the President. Someone who is affected by a state law may challenge that law in the courts (state or federal). If the courts declare a state action unconstitutional, they have the power to strike down that action and to order an appropriate remedy.

You mentioned the executive branch sending in troops to enforce constitutional rights. I assume you're talking about enforcement of federal court desegregation orders. The President didn't just wake up one morning and say "You know what, I think segregated schools are unconstitutional and I'm going to send in troops to fix it." Rather, the troops were sent in only after the federal courts -- including the Supreme Court -- had declared the state laws unconstitutional and the state governments had defied or refused to enforce the federal courts' orders.

Trump said that he was going to override the state governors' orders. But he just doesn't have that power. Period.