Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer · ¶231

“As we understand the doctrine of the Neagle case, and the cases therein cited, it is clearly this: The Executive is authorized to exert the power of the United States when he finds this necessary for the protection of the agencies, the instrumentalities, or the property of the Government. This does not mean an authority to disregard the wishes of Congress on the subject, when that subject lies within its control and when those wishes have been expressed, and it certainly does not involve the slightest semblance of a power to legislate, much less to ‘suspend' legislation already passed by Congress. It involves the performance of specific acts, not of a legislative but purely of an executive character— acts which are not in themselves laws, but which presuppose a ‘law’ authorizing him to perform them. This law is not expressed, either in the Constitution or in the enactments of Congress,…

U. S. Reports, bound volume
U. S. Reports, volume 343, at 579 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
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