Cass Sunstein

There's very good reason to think it's the right bet.

But your question correctly points to the fact that any bet can go sour.

Freedom first and self-government second.

So the freedom, I think, is intuitive that if the legislature can execute the laws or interpret the laws, then you and I are vulnerable.

If the executive can act without a court, then you and I are definitely vulnerable.

So the separation between executive and judicial authority, at least today, that's my favorite of the six.

That one I put first.

The power of the prosecutor is terrifying, though essential.

If the power of the prosecutor includes the power of adjudication, then any one of us or someone we know...

can end up in prison and be shattered.

There's no independent entity to call to account.

So that's what we lose, liberty.

Self-government is less obvious because if you have, let's say, an elected monarch, why don't you have self-government?

The absence of checks on that elected monarch means that in practice, the capacity for self-governance will be severely compromised.

The person isn't on an ongoing basis subject to electoral control.

No one is.

And if his separation of powers isn't in play, that person can go off in all sorts of directions that defy the will of the people.

If you cancel midterms, this lawyer immediately wonders what's the legal authority for that.

And there's not likely to be an answer to that question.

If you cancel the midterms, you're canceling something which is fundamental to our system of constitutional self-government.