[I realize this may come as a blow, but it's true: Bush does not have unlimited power. Who knew?]
Imperial presidency declared null and void
by Sidney Blumenthal
[....]
On June 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit,
the most conservative in the country, issued a decision striking at the heart of Bush’s conception of the presidency. In al-Marri v. Wright, the court ruled that Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a resident of Qatar, arrested as a student at Bradley University in the United States, accused of aiding al-Qaida, could not be held in indefinite detention as an “enemy combatant†and must be remanded to the civilian criminal court system. (Al-Marri, in an affidavit, claimed to have been tortured.) The decision acknowledged that al-Marri might have committed serious crimes. But the government’s assertion that the president has “inherent constitutional authority,†rooted in his “war-making powers,†is a “breathtaking claim†contrary to U.S. constitutional law and history.
“The President,†the court said, “claims power that far exceeds that granted him by the Constitution.â€[.....]
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/06/21/bush_torture/
