Napolitano: Trump violates Constitution – Spends unappropriated funds, raises taxes on own

Does the president of the United States have too much power?

That question has been asked lately with respect to President Trump's planned use of federal funds to construct 175 miles of sporadic barriers along portions of the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico common border.

After Congress expressly declined to give him that money, Trump signed into law – rather than vetoed – the legislation that denied him the funds he sought and then spent the money anyway.

The question regarding presidential power has also been asked with respect to Trump’s imposition of sales taxes – Trump calls them tariffs -- on nearly all goods imported into the United States from China. These are taxes that only Congress can constitutionally authorize.

And the question of presidential power has been asked in connection with the presidentially ordered mistreatment of families seeking asylum in the United States by separating parents from children – in defiance of a court order.