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While the phrase is used in the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration is a letter of resignation to the British Crown, not the foundation of our form of government.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

This IS THE founding paragraph of the country. It should also be the metaphysical and moral compass that guides us. The most forgotten word of this document is in the title: unanimous. This is why A. Lincoln said four "Four score and seven years ago . . ", not three score and sixteen.

Dred Scot was a disaster precisely because the court sided with the compromises that the Constitution made with slavery instead of the moral foundation of the Constitution that is found in the Declaration.

The Declaration of Independence expressed the country’s aspirations. It was a glowing example of (somewhat overheated) rhetoric, among the greatest poetry ever written.

The Constitution, with the minor exceptions of the Preamble and the Bill of Rights, is an instruction manual for how to run the country’s machinery. It has almost nothing to say about what the country should DO with its machinery. It is generally as dry as dust and just about as tasty.

The two documents admirably serve two very different purposes. The French, OTOH, have generally insisted on mixing up their statement of aspirations with the machinery of government.

In the time we’ve had one Republic, they’ve had three monarchies, two Empires, a Consulate, a Commune and at least five Republics (depending on how you figure it).

I think the American system works better. :)