Analyst's note:  Our U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have not been vigilant to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens, when addressing the problem of international terrorism.  Congress failed the American citizen at the end of last year, and President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law on December 31, 2011.  A Federal judge finally had to issue a preliminary injuction to prevent indefinite military detention of U.S. citizens without trial.   

This battle has just begun.  As citizens, we must insist on knowing by what authority our federal government is acting. Those actions which this and previous administrations have put together that go beyond the authority of enumerated powers and duties as provided by the U.S. Constitution for the three branches of the federal government must be undone at the earliest opportunity. 

The very first sentence of the first Article of the Constitution states, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States."  Neither the president nor Supreme Court justices can make laws -- except by usurpations tolerated by Congress.  The legislative power, together with the power of the purse, makes Congress our most powerful of the three branches of our federal government.

There are no non-enumerated powers.  Leaving nothing to inference, the Constitution even specifies that Congress may pass the laws "necessary and proper" for executing its specified powers.  Congressmen have simply to study and apply the Constitution in order to restore sound government.  That most fail to do so is not the fault of the Founding Fathers, but of the people who elect the congressmen and send them to Washington.  We can thus see that our vote and follow-up really matter!

Informed constituents should always evaluate how our U.S. representatives and senators vote in light of the constitutionally authorized powers of Congress.  We must use this knowledge not only to apply informed pressure on our congressmen, but to inform and activate our fellow citizens.

Under our system of government, the federal government may not execute any non-enumerated power, no matter how desirable, unless the power in question is first granted to the federal government through the amendment process (Article V).  To do so without a constitutional amendment is usurpation.  States may exercise numerous powers not listed in the enumerated powers and duties of the U.S. Constitution, although the particulars vary from one state to the next depending on the state constitution.

Our House of Representatives (with Power of Impeachment) and Senate (with Power to try all Impeachments) MUST step up and demand responsible action by all branches of government or take appropriate action.  Frankly, what I read in this article by InfoWar.com, as written by Aaron Dykes, is sending a very cold chill up my spine.

 When a ruler or ruling group makes the law, interprets the law and enforces the law, we have tyranny.  "The accumulation of all powers -- legislative, executive, and judiciary -- in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elected, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." (Madison, Federalist Papers, No 47).

I recommend an internal site search on the term "NDAA".

A federal judge has told the Obama administration that all Americans are protected by her preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of a citizen detention clause in a new federal law supported by Obama.

The federal government had told the judge it concluded that her recent ruling exempted only the named plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the provision.

That interpretation would have enabled the government to enforce the detention provision against all Americans except the plaintiffs.

U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest shot back in a new Memorandum Opinion and Order yesterday that said because the possible injury to Americans includes the loss of their rights, her order was intended to protect everyone.

“The injunction in this action is intentionally expansive because ‘persons whose expression is constitutionally protected [and not party to the instant litigation] may well refrain from exercising their rights for fear of criminal sanctions by a statute susceptible of application to protected expression,’” Forrest wrote.

On May 16 she issued a preliminary injunction banning enforcement of Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act. The section allows indefinite detention of people designated by the government as terrorists or terror-linked.

The law allows them to be held without hearing, charges or bond – essentially without their civil rights. And their detention can be indefinite. [....]