The reason is that one can easily understand the gist of both the pro- and con- briefs. It would be foolhardy for 'conservatives' to dismiss the NYT's rather cavalier approach because despite its tone, it fairly represents one prevalent school of legal thought.
What's really going on, as we all know, is that our Constitution, designed as a contract between the American people, their sovereign states, and a highly restricted central government, cannot serve as the foundational document of a top-down, heavily centralized, all-powerful, Federal Government, which directs the daily life of every citizen in an increasing variety of ways. So it all comes down to a rather brutal choice: Scrap the COTUS .... OR .... Follow it.
No doubt at all as to which choice an Obama voter might choose. No doubt as to where the Democrat Party's choice might fall. Democracy always becomes the tyranny of the stupid .... and those who are in the pay of the elected.