Introducing his latest “immigration relief” policy at the White House yesterday, President Biden told the assembled crowd that the changes he was making had been considered by Congress and had “passed.” Then, correcting himself, he conceded that this was not true. Rather, he admitted, he was announcing yet another “executive order.”

That Biden chose the twelfth anniversary of DACA to promulgate his alterations is fitting. Indeed, all that was missing was a commemorative sign that read, “Twelve years of ignoring the Constitution.” The creation of DACA, you may recall, was marked by President Barack Obama’s astonishing insistence that “if Congress won’t act, I will.” Prior to its announcement, Obama had explained frequently that he did not have the power to rewrite immigration law on the fly. “I am not a king,” Obama said often. “I am not an emperor.” But, with a tough reelection fight looming, he forgot all that and did it anyway. Civically, this represented a low moment in American history. That President Biden aspires to celebrate it — let alone to build on it — is damning in the extreme.