President Obama would like people to think he is being wronged by Senate Republicans who plan to deny him the chance to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

But the GOP lawmakers are determined to block his nominee not merely because he’d create a majority on the bench whose judicial philosophy is to usurp the democratic process and hand down decisions based on their own prejudices. It must, rather, be seen in the context of a presidency that has abusively increased executive power, usurping or trampling the proper authority of Congress. Obama does not respect congressional authority.