Those concerned about presidential overreach would do well to read the Wednesday testimony before the House Rules Committee by Jonathan Turley. Turley, a liberal law professor at George Washington University who has consistently criticized presidents of both parties for abusing executive power, made several important points about the courts and their role – or lack thereof – in confronting the problem.

Turley offered both a stirring defense of judicial involvement in separation-of-powers cases, and a scathing indictment of the courts’ passivity as the presidency has grown dangerously powerful. His testimony is a convincing rebuttal of some conservatives’ skepticism about House Speaker John Boehner‘s plan to sue President Obama over the chief executive’s abuse of authority in his selective enforcement of the Affordable Care Act. Turley argued that, unless courts begin adjudicating disputes like this one, presidents will simply stretch the limits until they are no longer meaningful.