Conference speaker Detlev F. Vagts, from “Military Commissions: A Concise History,” 101 American Journal of International Law 35-37 (2007)

Familiar failings from the Cold War era and earlier history returned to haunt the nation in the wake of 9/11. But this time abuses were compounded by a new and dangerous idea. To justify illicit invasions of liberty and privacy, the executive branch’s lawyers argued that the president has unlimited power to violate federal statutes. President Bush agreed. Specifically, he asserted under the Constitution a novel authority in the name of “national security” or “military necessity” to disregard permanently any law enacted by Congress…

No sitting president before President Bush asserted or used power under the Constitution to set aside laws wholesale. Such power means a president can ignore statutes passed by Congress whenever he claims that “national security” or “military necessity” is at issue. (p. 153)