If Congress thinks Bush is doing something that’s unconstitutional—illegal wiretaps that violate the 4th Amendment—Bush does it anyway because he believes that in a post 9/11 world, the rules (that’d be the Constitution) have changed.

Meanwhile, when Congress passes amendments (no torturing) and laws (the F.B.I. must report on how it’s using the Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers) that W. thinks are unconstitutional because they encroach on his power as the commander in chief—he issues signing statements saying he’s not going to follow the law.

While these two positions seem contradictory—Bush thinks the Constitution is outdated/Bush thinks the Constitution is sacred (never mind if Congress’s laws actually violate the constitution or not), there’s obviously a common thread: Bush doesn’t respect the fundamental equation of U.S. government: Checks & Balances.

I hadn’t be paying attention to this signing statements story, first reported by the Boston Globe on Sunday, but John Dean brought it up last night—at a packed ACLU event I went to at Town Hall about Bush’s illegal wiretaps. (Turns out John Dean’s still relevant. He’s written an academic essay skewering Bush for his crush on signing statements.)

Here’s the basic from the Globe:

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution. Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ”whistle-blower” protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research. Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush’s assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ”to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ”execute” a law he believes is unconstitutional.