We could begin by looking at this from the perspective of political philosophy. In the early 1790s, when our Constitutional government was in its infancy, Secretary Hamilton proposed a national bank that we definitely needed, but which was not specifically authorized by the Constitution. A decade later, President Jefferson’s delegates to France brought back an irresistible offer – to purchase a third of a continent from France for pennies an acre – which just as clearly lacked Constitutional authorization. In both instances, the opposing party said “You can’t do that without an Amendment! You’ll regret setting the precedent!†But they...