It is also not entirely unworthy of observation, that in declaring what shall be the supreme law of the land, the constitution itself is first mentioned; and not the laws of the United States generally, but those only which shall be made in pursuance of the constitution, have that rank. Thus, the particular phraseology of the constitution of the United States confirms and strengthens the principle, supposed to be essential to all written constitutions, that a law repugnant to the constitution is void; and that courts, as well as other departments, are bound by that instrument.
john marshallA mistake, as it seems to me, is none the less a mistake because it is made deliberately in the pursuance of a mistaken intention.
Olaus Magnus (de Gentibus Septentrionalibus) tells a like story of a northern king, who was hanged in pursuance of his own sentence: But it don't appear that he was afterwards made a saint.
The President can exercise no power which cannot be fairly and reasonably traced to some specific grant of power … in the Federal Constitution or in an act of Congress passed in pursuance thereof. There is no undefined residuum of power which he can exercise because it seems to him to be in the public interest.
william howard taft