"Over the last eight years, then-President George W. Bush repeatedly insisted that he was the sole constitutional "decider," free from congressional or judicial checks on his power.
He claimed the power to imprison American citizens as terrorist suspects for as long as he deemed necessary, tap Americans' phones without a warrant, and, through the use of the State Secrets privilege - -a doctrine that shields information related to national security - prevent the courts from testing the legality of those propositions.
In the last months of his administration, Bush behaved like a Roman dictator for economic affairs, deciding which companies would live or die with the $700 billion in taxpayer funds Congress had authorized the executive branch to commit.
On the campaign trail in 2008, Barack Obama promised that he'd take a different approach to presidential power. Last week, our new president faced his first serious test of whether he meant what he said.
He failed."
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9983
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