Senator Ted Cruz has submitted legislation to create a constitutional amendment to allow states to determine what marriage is, and not federal judges.

Days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on same-sex marriage, Senator Ted Cruz has filed two bills to protect states that bar gay couples from marrying.

Cruz's legislation would establish a constitutional amendment shielding states that define marriage as between one woman and one man from legal action, according to bill language obtained by Bloomberg News. A second bill would bar federal courts from further weighing in on the marriage issue until such an amendment is adopted.

You know, nearly all the the candidates running for president say that marriage should be decided by the states. That's an easy way of saying nothing of substance. Since federal judges have taken away the states' ability to decide what is and isn't marriage, saying you favor "the states deciding" doesn't change the reality of what is about to happen: as most people expect, the Supreme Court will legalize gay marriage throughout the country. (My personal prediction, as an attorney who watches these things: it will be a 6-3 vote, with John Roberts siding with Anthony Kennedy and the liberals because he wants to be on the winning side.)

The only thing that will change the reality of this federal power-grab is to amend the Constitution. That's why even though Ted Cruz's proposal has no chance in the Senate, it's a marker for what he stands for, and as we know, there's another way to amend the Constitution: by a convention of the states. That's why it's important to see candidates coming out not merely in favor of "states' rights" generically, but supporting a solution that can fix this. By endorsing an amendment, they can raise public awareness and perhaps generate a movement to eventually get this done. It's certainly better than being silent and doing nothing.

Of all the candidates, I have heard only Ted Cruz endorse this. Please let me know in the comments section if you have heard of any other candidate endorse this solution to the gay marriage power-grab.