For DACA to work, DHS had to convince undocumented youth to provide personal data to the government they feared. Secretary Napolitano explains this was achieved by creating a strict policy that information submitted to USCIS for DACA applications would not be shared with ICE for enforcement, a crucial trust-building measure.
DHS Secretary Napolitano explains DACA's legal basis was the inherent discretion of law enforcement to prioritize resources. By defining "Dreamers" as the lowest priority, the administration could effectively grant them protection without new legislation, treating immigration as a resource-constrained law enforcement issue.
Former DHS Secretary Napolitano details the sprint to launch DACA. It required creating a full-fledged federal program from scratch—designing forms, setting fees, training staff, and doing public outreach—in just two months. This shows that executive orders are not self-executing but require intense operational effort.
Janet Napolitano argues that recent Supreme Court doctrines presume a level of legislative clarity and capability that doesn't exist in modern politics. By expecting Congress to legislate with extreme precision on all major issues, the Court ignores institutional dysfunction and creates a standard the legislative branch cannot meet.
Presidents consistently follow the War Powers Resolution's 48-hour notification rule but include language asserting their inherent Article II authority to act unilaterally. This creates a constitutional paradox: they perform the actions required by the law while simultaneously arguing the law doesn't actually constrain them.
The War Powers Resolution's 60-day limit is triggered by "hostilities." The Obama and Trump administrations exploited the term's ambiguity, arguing that military actions like drone strikes against an enemy that cannot retaliate do not count as "hostilities," thus avoiding the need for congressional authorization.
Former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano reveals DACA was initiated immediately after Congress failed to pass the Dream Act. It wasn't a proactive policy but a reactive measure, using executive power to solve a problem the legislative branch couldn't, highlighting how executive action can stem from legislative paralysis.
The "Prize Cases" reveal the legality of Lincoln's naval blockade of the South was a precarious constitutional question. Because blockades are an act of war between nations, his authority was challenged. A 5-4 Supreme Court decision validated his actions, retroactively saving the entire Union war effort from being declared unconstitutional.