Can the President of the United States override the First Amendment?

1. 89

   peoplepower73posted 7 years ago

   Can the President of the United States override the First Amendment?
   
   Here is the first amendment:
   Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
   
   Notice it says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establish of religion"  It doesn't say the President shall make no law.  My question is:  Is Trump violating the first amendment by his blocking of refugees, by picking and choosing Christians to come into this country, but not Muslims?

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2. 70

   mike102771posted 7 years ago

   How is entering a country speech or religion? He is not denying anyone the ability to practice their religion (or free speech) once in the country. Any as many non-American people here will tell you the US Constitution does not cover people from other countries outside of the US.
   Having said that the President does not make law. His job is to enforce the law. Now he can do Executive orders but much like the Obama Administration they are bound by the Constitution. So, the Pres. can’t just executive order your wrights away. If he could Pres. Obama would have had a pair of scissors out with the second amendment on a toilet paper roll while eating a lot of fiber.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Did you say that about president Obama when he went around congress?

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      mike102771posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      It was a low point in American politics when Obama started to use the EOs to bypass congress and the Constitution. As a supposed Constitutional scholar he should have known better.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      you sure did, brad. as did every right wing/republican here. obama was a tyrant, now trump is "getting things done". and you all dont even SEE it!!!

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Leslie, I asked if you said it about Obama, and I am not a dem or a republican. I like the dems a lot less than the repubs. Michael - He also dn enforce the existing laws with the EO. This was just the latest problems of the last 28 yrs.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      no, i didnt. obama had to do it, becauze he was stonewalled at every turn. trump doesnt even bother to ask congress. he just signs. (and whos writing them?)

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Leslie - That is a problem with following the party rather than the US. Loyal party voters of both parties are the problem. Trump is not really GOP, and living and working in NYC he is totally familiar with the democrats, as  he even supported them.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      well, he sold out to the republicans, and that makes him even worse! IMO

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Leslie - How did Trump sell out to anyone. Making broad stms doesn't really make a statement. How did pres Obama benefit you personally?

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      mike102771posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Picking and choosing what law to enforce is nothing new.  Obama just perfected it. Modern Politics requires politicians to create new laws to make it look like they are doing something. It's why we have so many laws saying the same thing.

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       bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Michael that may be true, but not enforcing the immigration laws and bringing in 100s of 1000 of refugees and immigrants is just intentional circumventing of existing law. And then going after states that try to deal with immigration ignoring the law

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   11. 70

       mike102771posted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Well if he would have done that who would have voted Democrat future elections? Modern Dems are nationalists who couldn't care less about what the states or people want. Just further their agenda no matter what. Vote early, vote often (legal or not)

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       bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Michael
       to solve these problems, the loyal party voters of both parties need to reevaluate their party before country loyalty. Trump is saying America 1st, and that means take care our us before we can take care of anyone else.

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   13. 70

       mike102771posted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Less party loyalty more Country loyalty. Ask not what your country thing JFK said. It's a shame they don't make Dems like that anymore. Now it's more like demand what you think your country owes you.

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       FitnezzJimposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Amen.

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       bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       That is the ticket. Spread the words.

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   16. 77

       lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       you mean like it owes you a free ride by not paying taxes? (trump, church), you mean like telling people how they must live their private lives? (trump, church) you mean like wanting opposing ideas to just go away? (all republicans on hubpages)

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   17. 70

       mike102771posted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Do you really think the Ds aren’t going to tell you how to live? The Ds talk about freedom of speech as long as you say what they approve. Freedom to say the party line. (name one person who if they could get out of it would still pay taxes)

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       lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       bulloney.i dont see dems telling anyone what to say.nor do i think its patriotic to avoid taxes.some1 has to pay for airforce one and all the other perks.what i see is one standard for right,another standard for libs. patently obvious now that r prez

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       mike102771posted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Wake up and watch the media. If anyone says something they don’t agree with then its all-out war. I didn’t say avoiding paying taxes was patriotic. I said people who can avoid it legally will.

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       lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       hellerrrr, im saying not paying taxes is unpatriotic! ESPECIALLY if youre a millionaire!!

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   21. 89

       peoplepower73posted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Brad:  Has Trump gone to congress with any of his Executive Orders? The only time the president has to use congress is for funding of an order.  They can submit an order to congress for approval, but as far as I know, Trump has not done that.

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       bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       MIke, Sorry but that is not a valid argument. The democrats have vowed to resist until DC goes down. All I am saying is 100 days and then you have something he actually has done to critique. I think the past 28 years sn be repeated. We need to change

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   23. 77

       lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       brad, how many days did you give obama? seriously, ive been here since 2010...there are people here who have never had a good word to say about obama in all those 7 years. curious why you think trump deserves better treatment than obama??

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3. 78

   FitnezzJimposted 7 years ago

   I laughed at "It doesn't say the President shall make no law".  While this is indeed true, as near as I can tell the President has made no attempt to make a law, nor would it be accepted if a President tried to make a new law.
   So, what exactly are the executive powers that are traditionally held by the President?   I would offer that an online search might provide a fairly good and traditionally accepted answer to that question.  (Perhaps surprisingly, Wikipedia is a good starting point.)
   My understanding is that, the President exercises his authority to set priorities with respect to enacting, and enforcing federal Congressional law, and does so in the best interests of the United States.  He also writes Executive Orders, which are not law, but are orders to the members of the executive branch of government regarding which laws hold priority.  They typically represent the policy of the President. 
   With respect to his Executive Order on refugees, I found nothing specific to religion in the catalog of Executive Orders, Executive Memoranda, and Proclamations that are available at the White House website, whitehouse.gov.
   Without researching further, I suspect that the concern over rejecting Muslims in favor of Christians is one those hypotheticals that is offered by the news media to help sell advertising time, or by politicos to encourage the ignorant to argue nonsense.  Do you have an authoritative source for the presumed hypothesis regarding “blocking of refugees, by picking and choosing Christians to come into this country, but not Muslims?”
   
   And, the short answer to the question "Can the President of the United States override the First Amendment?" is "of course not".

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   1. 89

      peoplepower73posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Executive orders carry the same weight as a law.  However executive orders are issued only to executive branches to carry out policies issued by the president.  If they are not carried out, they are in violation of the law.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      While an executive order can have the same effect as a federal law under certain circumstances, Congress can pass a new law to override an executive order, subject to a presidential veto.

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      Oztinatoposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Yes like banning Muslim countries unless they have trump hotels of course.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      i imagine if you told the interrogators, "trump is my king", and vowed to spread the word, cause "we'll be watching you", they'd let you go.

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      MizBejabbersposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      One of the Trump spoksemen claim that the order said "persecuted Muslims and Christians". And I might add, he said it in that order. I haven't read the order, so I couldn't back that up. Could be another Trump lie.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      yes.guliani said it was 2be a muslim ban,and to make it legal,they changed it to "dangerous to america" ban..you know, like a 5yr old kid.and the countries on obamas list were countries to avoid if traveling,not to ban people from them! islamophobia

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4. 86

   tamarawilhiteposted 7 years ago

   1. Refusing immigrants with specific backgrounds is not a violation of free speech, association or religion of citizens.
   2. Given that we couldn't vet the San Bernadino shooters, Boston Marathon bombers or OSU attacker, all Muslim immigrants, it is not unreasonable to say NO to anymore immigrants with a religious background that has a strong correlation to violence when we can't determine which ones are prone to said violence.
   3. If you want to help the true underdog, take in the Christian refugees who are being murdered by ISIS as well as threatened and injured by Muslim refugees for not being Muslim.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I agree, and it seems like pres Obama and his dems wanted to give equal or greater rights than those of American Citizens to illegal aliens & immigrants from terrorist infested countries.
      Trump wants American Citizens to get the most consideratio

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   2. 77

      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      for god sakes, they detained a little five year old boy. detainees are asked their opinion on trump....if this is america to you, no wonder we as people can never get along.

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      mike102771posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Do you mean they are asked about their thoughts on the President of the USA? Better or worse Trump represents the USA to the world. Asking about him is asking about us even if you don't like it. Do you really think the terrorist see a difference?

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      you think so? i dont. i think they would want to examine personal history, business interests, things they may have done, etc. what they think of trump is irrelevant! unless, hes demanding some sort of fealty test, which is what i think is going on.

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      tamarawilhiteposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Boko Haram has women with babies used as suicide bombers in Nigeria.

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      Sychophantasticposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I think President Trump will start watching those who don't agree with his policies and following them. He's already making sure only approved journalists attend his press conferences. These are important steps for making America great again.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      people from canada coming in are asked how they feel about trump!!..wth is this? i know one thing...making sure we all have our birth certificates in my house...papers, please.

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5. 77

   lovemychrisposted 7 years ago

   nah, but hes showing the ugly side of america.lets see...we had internment of japanese, guilty of nothing, refusing to let jews in ww2, simply for being jews, and then, we turned a bunch of haitians away who were fleeing that evil doc, baby or papa, cant remember which. and now, its muslims...which has been brewing since 9/11. (one reason why they did it. "its good for us, puts the world on our side") and i just cant believe he cares sooo much about christians, when the oldest christian community on earth gets bombed, white phosphoured, kicked out of their homes and brutalized on a daily basis for 60+ years.(gaza) either we all matter, or no one does. thats MY religion!!!

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      What did pres Obama do for the Americans in the US did are homeless, and the 43 million people that are on food stamps. Also, r christian orgs in the US going to pay for some or much of taking in these immigrants.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      food stamps? its because big corporations pay minimum wage, and NO ONE  can live on that. and yes, lots of families with kids have minimum wage jobs. pay better, no food stamps needed. the point is, brad, christians welcome, muslims not.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Pres Obama had 8 yrs to take people off food stamps, he did nothing. Democrats are the favorites of the minimum wage and no wage groups. How does that make Trump responsible. 28 yrs of bad congresses and presidents. They all got us here, not Trump

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      listen, youre the one who brought up food stamps, not me. and trump was no angel. that billionaire didnt care enough for this country to pay any taxes! and red states take most food stamps, welfare AND aca. then have added bonus of the outdated ec!

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Leslie
      You are rambling, I don't have a clue what is ur pt. Please reread my previous comment and explain your answer.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      trump got us here, too. he was one of those who bought laws for himself, paid no taxez, kept his money offshore. for every dollar fat cats like him dont pay, SOMEONE has to. and its been the middle class. he mooched, they paid.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Leslie
      He wasn't in the government, don't you see the difference. But you have no prob with the Clinton fat cars and their tax evasion. And they were in the govt. Left the WH bankrupt, and bought a $10 million property. That is OK with you??

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      no i dont see the difference. big biz and fat cats have more power than gvt! look at them! they flaunt their privelegez, and americans are taught to worship robber barons. not baronesses, i might add. women go to prison for tax evasion and stock tips

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Leslie, I am going to leave u with this. Who were the financial backers of Hillary versus Trump?

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       lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       far as i know, trumps were russian mob, koch bros and putin. word is, putin offered trump 19% of rosneft if trump lifts sanctions...just read today that rosneft was sold to "mystery buyer." all his picks in gvt come from heritage and cato..big koch.

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       bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Leslie
       How many refugees are you going to take into your house. Maybe they have an extra computer.

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       lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       oh, i know you would like me to shut up brad. now is not the time. and i really cant understand why it matters. you won! the usa is yours! and you can just skip over and ignore what i write anyway, like i do with others all the time...easy!

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   bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years ago

   No more so than president Obama not enforcing the existing immigration laws and bringing in millions of unvetted iimigrants from terrorist infested countries. By allowing sanctuary cities from being enriched by the US Treasury.
   
   And what is the constitutional definition of the PRESS. Is it a bunch of Biased people twisting and infusing what they purport to be the News with their spin, rumors, and unverified information. This is hardly the news, is it.
   
   For example, Cable "News" was never really a source of news, but a place where pundits would give their spin on events. This is different from the Walter Cronkite days where News was reporting the events, and verifying and validating the facts about the events, while editorials were the station's interpretation of the news. Today, the editorial is the news.
   
   ON 911, A Small Plane has hit the WTC. How could anyone make that kind of error in reporting the event?
   
   The question should be how do we qualify and identity the constitutional meaning of the Press? As to your second pt, did president Obama do the same thing but for the Muslims?
   
   Mike, Hillary lost the election, Obama is a private citizens and attacking president Trump has become an act of sedition and treason. Dems in Congress vowing to resist the president, remember it is the office of the president, and not the person that the constitution values. Encouraging protesters to resist, and some of them calling for assassination. The dems in Congress need to look closely at the oath they took when they got into congress.
   
   Trump is the de jure and lawful president of the US by winning the Electoral College, end of discussion.
   
   The US train left the station, if you are not on it, then you have to wait 4 years to board it again. Whiners need not apply. lol

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      huh.so attacking trump is treason,but not attacking obama.and now congress has to work with the president,when gop stated goal was to block obama.and a private server is ok now,not a crime!wow,you guys have partisan patriotism!and negotiable virtue

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   2. 89

      peoplepower73posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Brad:  Isn't interesting that Saudi Arabia is where most of the 911 terrorist came from and they also support ISIS because they are both Sunni's ?  But they are not a country on the list. Why?  Because DT's companies do business with them.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Leslie - Trump protesters are rioting and vowing to bring down the country. Acts not words. Mike - Saudi Arabia is not sending us refugees. Time to work for US not your party. Trump is not with either party, & not the cause of the last last 28 yr

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      thats not rioting. thats protesting,  just as the tea party did. and i think trying to suppress peoples voices would bring this country down.but give him time.trump'll try. as it is, the detained muslims are asked how they feel about trump.wt holy f

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      burning cars, breaking business windows is rioting. Obstructing traffic and littering the streets. Threatening to blow up the WH, and try to bring DC to a standstill is not a protest. It adversely affects everyone around them. Tea party was wrong als

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      peoplepower73posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Brad:  Ha, Ha, No refugees, just Saudi Arabia is sending us terrorist and supporting ISIS.  And the Trump Corporation has big business with Saudi Arabia...no conflict of interest there.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Mike you have the strangest sense of humor. These are two very different things. Obama put unvetted Muslim refugees and immigrants directly into the country. Saudi Arabia should have been handled by Bush and Obama but neither one did anything.

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      did you watch the womens marches all over the world? not one burning car, not one smashed window, just pure, human care. those people you speak of are not democrats. and i think those people you speak of were paid by project veritas, operation chaos

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      peoplepower73posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Brad:  What is your source for unvetted immigrants?  Here is Obama's vetting process for Syrian refugees.  It takes 18 to 24 months.
      
      http://time.com/4116619/syrian-refugees … g-process/

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       bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Mike, the Muslim refugee ban is only for 90 days, hardly a stoppage for the 18-24 mo. What about Trump's sugg to get a safe zone for the refugees in the ME?domestic terrorists in the US were refugees? ISIS has vowed to infuse these refugees, risk??

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       lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       hey, all you alex jones fans....i think we're going to see what the fema camps are for. and its not christian militants. they are given thumbs up by trump, inc. laxer gun laws. ratchet up anger. some false flags here n there. what could go wrong?

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7. 85

   Robert Sacchiposted 7 years ago

   No and yes.  The President doesn't make any laws, Congress makes laws.  The President enforces laws.  It is possible for the President to have the agencies under the President's control interpret the First Amendment, or any other part of the Bill of Rights, such that the Amendment becomes meaningless.  At some point the courts would probably get involved.

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   1. 50

      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Mike's ?Is Trump violating the first amend by his blocking of refugees, by picking and choosing Christians to come into this country, but not Muslims?None of this is 1st amen. Christians are not terrorist they are being exterminated,

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      oh, just be patient. i read that 10 states are working on making it illegal to protest. the gummint has now set up checkpoints in places to see "papers please". someone said omg history is repeating! i said history? its present. we are gaza.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Leslie?

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      lovemychrisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      sorry...just watching as right to lifers prepare to protest planned parenthood. wonder how many here will call them "spoiled brats"? trump has emboldened them. pence has given them cover. the inquisition is here. and im supposed to give it a chance?

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