Victory for the rule of law.

Today the United States Senate responded to the power of "We the People" and voted to effectively defeat an immigration bill that could have fundamentally changed the nature of what it means to be a citizen of the United States. Those of us who have taken an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of the United States; and those of you who look to the law and the protections of the United States Constitution to ensure your liberty must, as a policy decision, applaud this victory for the rule of law.

By acting today, the Senate has refused to ignore the law. They refused to allow the law to become a suggestion rather than an imperative.

While the personal stories of many of those who will not now be swept into legal status may be heart rending, the policy decision to uphold the law must be applauded. If the nation had chosen to ignore the law on this point in response to the emotional individual stories of people who are portrayed as poor souls who are just looking for a way to feed their family, what rule of law might be set aside tomorrow or then next day, or the next?

Perhaps it would be the rules of evidence which ensure a fair trial for one accused of a crime. After all, the alleged victims also have heartbreaking stories.

Or, perhaps it would be The Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. After all, there are millions of people who have compelling and tragic personal stories about how drugs have ruined their lives. Surely, their stories and the greater good justify the disregard of laws requiring a warrant before the government searches your home and seizes your propertyin an effort to eradicate the scourge drugs.

Our constitutional system is a fragile one. The constitution itself has no power. The protection of our rights relies upon the people and the government recognizing and respecting the normative principles laid forth in the document as something which ought to be followed.

If our government makes a policy decision to ignore the rule of law then what protects our rights and freedoms from eventual subjugation?