Is prerogative power in the constitution?

Answer 1

A president wields vast formal powers, and yet because of constitutional checks and balances and legal restrictions, the incumbent usually finds, as Harry Truman once said, that "the powers of the president mostly amount to getting people to do what they ought to do without him asking." Often it is the power to persuade, rather than the power to command, that defines the outer limits of presidential power. Any reader of Article II of the Constitution is immediately struck by how much attention is paid to the mechanics of presidential election, and how little is paid to the powers of the president once in office. Although the president is given "The Executive Power of the United States," nothing is specified about giving orders to department heads, controlling the departments of government, or removing officials from office. Although the president may make treaties by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, nothing is said about who has the power of abrogation. Although the president is named commander in chief, there is nothing further about his power to command the military, or about his relationships with the uniformed officer corps. Although the president may call Congress into special session, has the duty to inform Congress about the state of the Union and recommend measures to it, and may veto its bills, there is nothing said about his powers to issue regulations with the force of law.These omissions were not unintentional. The framers of the Constitution were practical men of affairs, well seasoned in governing the colonies and states, and many of them had extensive military and diplomatic experience. They crafted a short and ambiguous article dealing with presidential power in order to get the Constitution ratified by state legislatures that were suspicious of executive power. They did not fully define executive power, nor did they completely confine it. Instead, they left many issues for later generations to settle. The result was constitutional language that could be interpreted in two ways. Executive power could be either limited, confined, and checked and balanced, or it could be an instrument to build a strong economy directed by the central government, and a bulwark against the dangers posed by foreign powers interfering in the affairs of the new nation.