Ellis & Pence: Amid coronavirus, Trump understands this simple truth that Democrat governors are ignoring

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America must safely and quickly open up again. President Trump is working tirelessly to do just that. The costs due to this invisible enemy have been profound — but we cannot refuse to follow our Constitution during this time.

Our Constitution is the roadmap to the American Dream, even in a time of crisis. In its preamble, we are reminded that We the People know how to keep our neighbors safe, while protecting our rights and liberties. We've been defending our welfare and securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and for our posterity for over 240 years.

Securing our American Dream requires understanding that our founding documents are essential.

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Our Founders wrote the Declaration of Independence as the first legal document in our nation’s history, establishing and recognizing that individual rights come from God our Creator — not our government. In recognizing this truth, America established the first system of government whose mandate was not to preserve power for civil leaders, but to preserve rights for the individual.

Unfortunately, some Democrat governors are refusing to follow this roadmap, and are instead trying to turn our American system on its head. In a time of crisis, they want to increase power for themselves instead of protecting liberty and freedom for the people.

Working as designed, our Constitution gives specific, limited powers to government, restricted further by separating those powers among the branches of the federal government and among federal, state and local leaders. Our Constitution ensures that no public official ever have absolute power to become tyrannical.

All public offices are under the Constitution and have only such powers as it designates or is appropriately legislatively afforded. Governors in places like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania seemingly refuse to acknowledge the limits of their state executive powers and forget they are the holders of public trust.

It is not for them to decide whether to trust the American people and our Constitution at this moment — they are required to. Their prime mandate by which every other action must be tested is to preserve and protect our individual rights. Yet we are witnessing a far different exercise of powers across the country.

For example, in Michigan, the governor ticketed a 77-year-old barber for cutting hair. In defending the imposition of criminal sanctions, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer explained her “executive orders are … not optional.” The barber’s response, “The government is not my mother.”

He’s right. Whitmer’s power is not without limits. The state legislature is challenging her orders and the Michigan court will judge if Michiganders’ rights and liberties have been abridged.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers sought to extend the stay-at-home order without legislative approval.  This action was deemed unconstitutional by the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week.

Our Constitution was meant to guide us in times of crisis, not be suspended. 

The court ruled that the executive branch “cannot confer on itself the power to dictate the lives of law-abiding individuals as comprehensively as the order does without reaching beyond the executive branch's authority." The court placed the responsibility for future lawmaking on the legislative branch, “where it belongs.”

The Wisconsin court was correct to recognize the separation of powers and our rule of law, even amid a national crisis. Our Constitution is not suspended in a time of crisis.

Also last week, a judge in Oregon tossed out restrictions on the governor’s ban on churches gathering for worship, an order that also invalided the entire stay-at-home order. Constitutionally, it was the correct ruling.

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In Pennsylvania, as President Trump stated from Allentown, “You have areas of Pennsylvania that are barely affected and they want to keep them closed. Can’t do that.” Ad-hoc rules are confusing and maybe even unconstitutional – Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf would be wise to work with the legislature before the judiciary intervenes.

Americans will not accept arbitrarily and capricious rules to dictate our lives. The separation of powers built into our system is designed to prevent this kind of overreach.

Our Constitution was meant to guide us in times of crisis, not be suspended.

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Thankfully, we have a president who knows why our Constitution is essential to the American Dream, our prosperity and our future. Because following the Constitution is always essential, we can pursue our American Dream with the blessings of liberty for ourselves and future generations.

President Trump cherishes this beautiful promise of America, as do the millions of people across the nation who will not consent to tyranny. We urge all governors to recognize the limits of their power and act now to preserve liberty and freedom, even in times of uncertainty.

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John Pence (@JePence) is a senior adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign. He is an alumnus of The College of William & Mary and holds a law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and a business degree from New York University.