There's also a grant of "executive power" in Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, as well as a requirement" (in Article II, Section 3, Clause 5) that the executive branch "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed". Executive orders are valid so long as they don't violate other provisions and rights.
Part of his oath of office is to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and pardoning himself is not the faithful execution of the laws.
Bush said in his signing statement that the commission "could inhibit the president's ability to carry out his constitutional obligations to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to protect national security, to supervise the executive branch and to execute his authority as commander-in-chief".
Nevertheless, the constitutional obligation of the Executive to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," U.S.Const., Art.
The president's chief duty is to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed, and this duty is performed through an elaborate system of executive agencies that includes cabinet-level departments.
The relevant constitutional text, he writes for the Atlantic, requires that the president "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," a broad-enough concept to allow for judgment in the execution.
Instead, they involve simply asking one thing: Is Trump obeying his oath to support and defend the Constitution and take care that the laws be faithfully executed?
Customarily, the Justice Department would file a brief arguing why the states are wrong, since it is part of the executive branch and defending federal statutes in court is part of the executive's constitutional duty to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed".
The Executive, for example, in addition to "taking Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," Art.
