This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Wednesday, February 12, 2014.

I'm Caleb Brown.

The President's unilateral decision to enforce some laws and not others,

delaying Obamacare mandates and refusing to enforce drug laws in some states

may make libertarians happy as far as policy outcomes, but the precedent it sets

for future lawmakers and future president is very dangerous indeed.

Bob Levy is chairman of the Cato Institute.

We spoke last week.

Ted Cruz, among others, have been critical of the President of the United States for selectively

enforcing laws for Cruz. It is drug laws that the President has essentially

said will not be enforcing in Colorado and Washington states that have legalized marijuana

but also with respect to portions of Obamacare the president has either

delayed or essentially decided to, of his own accord, certain provisions will not come into effect

when they were supposed to.

So how do we make sense of what the president's actual constitutional powers are with

respect to enforcing laws that he's supposed to? Well let's review what the

president's actually done and taking it in reverse order, Obamacare, and then the drug laws.

There was an Obamacare employer mandate.

And it was originally set to begin in 2014.

But by Executive Edict, it's now going to be 2015.

Frankly, it's not a bad idea to delay it.

But it is clearly illegal to delay it.

...