Constitutional lesson

The teacher became the pupil last week when President Barack Obama, a former constitutional law professor, was given a thorough schooling on the limits of executive authority and the significance of the separation of powers.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled three of the president's appointments to the National Labor Relations Board unconstitutionally bypassed Senate confirmation. President Obama tapped the pro-union members a year ago, when Congress was on holiday but Republican lawmakers were gaveling into minutes-long sessions to block recess appointments. The Obama administration considered the pro forma sessions a fraud and made the recess appointments anyway. In effect, Mr. Obama decided the executive branch had the authority to determine when the co-equal legislative branch was working.

"Allowing the president to define the scope of his own appointment power would eviscerate the Constitution's separation of powers," Chief Judge David Sentelle wrote in the 46-page ruling. The decision could invalidate more than 600 NLRB decisions from 2012. The Obama administration plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It's important to note that 285 recess appointments between 1867 and 2004 also would be invalid under the court's ruling, which determined that such appointments can be made only on days between yearlong sessions, not mid-session breaks. The decision provides a badly needed booster shot to the Senate's role of providing advice and consent.

The president has made it clear he doesn't like to negotiate with Congress, whether it involves appointees or executive orders. The larger lesson for Mr. Obama, here, is to spend more time rounding up votes instead of avoiding any vote in the first place.