Time to Constitutionally Reform Executive Orders

I do not like Executive Orders. I don't care who is president, I do not like them. They reek of monarchical, if not dictatorial, government and it is time to put some limits upon them.

Executive Orders are issued by the president and have the force of law unless Congress says otherwise. Franklin Roosevelt interned thousands of American citizens of Japanese descent by Executive Order. Clinton seized hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the final months of his presidency.

Here is my proposal. Constitutionally define what an Executive Order is. Then say that unless Congress approves it in three years, it is off the books. This allows the president to respond to emergencies and gives him or her enough time to sell the action to Congress.

Additionally any presidential executive order that involves the taking of land would need the approval of that state's legislature before going into effect.

This would have the effect of balancing presidential power while allowing for them to respond effectively to immediate emergencies.

Obama's recent moves againt West Virginia coal mining methods reveal that federal regulatory law may also need some congressional oversight.