And as The Washington Post editorialized today, even if Congress is “obstinate, hopelessly partisan and incapable of problem-solving,” that doesn’t “grant the president license to tear up the Constitution” by issuing an executive order to give temporary legal status to most of the illegal immigrants who have recently come across the border.

I think Obama’s words and actions in recent years encouraged the race to the border. If he grants immunity to the massive influx of recent illegal immigrants, the race will become a stampede. If he does, in fact, toss away the Constitution to bless chaos at the border and send a signal to all comers that now is the time to break the law, then what won’t he do? What does he think his boundaries are? And just as important, what will he do when America’s enemies — large and small — take his cue and start to seize the moment?

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I hate to be dark and imagine the unimaginable, but bear with me. We have no idea who sees Obama’s remaining tenure in the White House as a opportunity to take actions they know no other U.S. president would tolerate. At the very least, Russia, Iran and North Korea are no doubt studying the calendar and plotting their moves, as are the innumerable other miscreants we may not even recognize yet as imminent threats. It is not unreasonable to assume that our enemies seek to take advantage of a world with a permissive or completely feckless president.

We don’t know what the effect will be if the president decides to go ahead with his executive actions. The severity of unintended consequences is directly proportional to the actions taken. If a U.S. president unilaterally declares himself free from the bounds of our nation’s laws, there is no telling what the consequences will be.