Congressman Jerrold Nadler today expressed shock at Chairman Trent Franks statement that President Obama should be impeached for upholding the law.

“I am shocked by Chairman Franks’ reckless call to impeach President Obama, and I call upon the House Republican Leadership to take impeachment off the table. 

“The President’s duty under the Constitution is to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States’ and to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed.’  By declining to defend in court the constitutionality of a law he believes to be unconstitutional, he is defending the Constitution, and by enforcing the law until a court declares it unconstitutional, he is taking ‘care that the laws be faithfully executed.’

“While declining to defend the constitutionality of a law in court is not a common practice, there are numerous precedents, and it is the proper course of action in certain circumstances.

“This is quite different from the practice of President George W. Bush, who announced frequently in so-called ‘signing statements’ that he would not enforce various laws because he believed them to be unconstitutional.

“Whereas President Bush improperly arrogated to himself the right to ignore a law that he unilaterally decided was unconstitutional, President Obama will continue to enforce The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) while attempting to persuade a court that it is unconstitutional.  That is the proper course of action.”