One, there is no "national government" -- there is, however a federal one, and that usage remains accurate.
Standing up to the Feds, though, is a train that left the station about the time people either failed to stand up to Abraham Lincoln, or died trying.
There is now no practical check other than the ballot box, on presidential claims of illimitable federal power.
Federalism is a system of government in which a written constitution divides the powers of government on a territorial basis.
The division is made between a central, or national, government and several regional or local governments.
Each level of government has its own area of powers.
Neither level, acting alone, can change the basic division of powers the constitution makes between them.
Each level operates through its own agencies and acts directly on the people through its own officials and laws.
Since the U.S. Civil War, the powers of the federal government have generally expanded greatly, although there have been periods since that time of legislative branch dominance (e.g., the decades immediately following the Civil War) or when states’ rights proponents have succeeded in limiting federal power through legislative action, executive prerogative or by constitutional interpretation by the courts.
Hence, the national government has the power to make laws over a variety of things but the Constitution (10th amendment) says that state and local governments have power to make laws over everything else that the national government doesn’t make laws about.
Often, they share the power to make laws about certain issues. For example, there are national laws about gun rights and restrictions that all states must follow.
However, Colorado also has laws that are more specific about what rights Colorado residents have concerning guns in Colorado, such as Colorado is the only state that doesn’t require a permit for handgun owners.