David Frum

And there may be more legal predicates to allow him to do it.

In every way we can imagine, and in many ways we cannot, we're moving into a terrain of extraordinary danger to democratic institutions.

The war in Iran is not just a foreign policy question.

It is an urgent domestic policy question.

It is a massive grant of power to a president and administration that have proven again and again that they will abuse any powers that they are entrusted with.

We all wish, of course, a safe and swift return to American personnel in danger.

We wish a safe and swift return home to all the allied personnel in danger.

And we wish urgently a better future for the oppressed people of Iran who've been so maltreated and murdered by the most aggressive and most repressive regime maybe on the entire planet.

But Americans also are entitled to think about their safety, their security, and their freedom.

And that is suddenly called into question in a way that has been quite theoretical until the Trump administration came along.

And even in the early days of the Trump administration, the second Trump administration, while it has been less theoretical and more actual, has not been as imminent and ominous as it is today.

But the threat now is as imminent and ominous as possibly could be, or as it yet has been.

Perhaps it can get even worse.

And as an American, it's your job now not to lose either your ideals or your confidence.

The courts still work.

The liberties of the Constitution are still on paper.

And it's going to be up to all of us to make sure that those courts continue to operate and that those liberties remain real.

against an administration that will use any excuse to try to cramp, to avoid the courts, neuter Congress, and negate those liberties.

Any excuse, and now they've got a better excuse than they've ever had before.

So, as I said, a grave moment in American history, a dangerous moment in American history.