In his January 1776 book Common Sense, Thomas Paine summarized his argument for American independence in one simple but compelling phrase: ?In America, the law is king.?

Americans were once taught that we are a nation ruled by laws, not by men. Harvey C. Mansfield, a professor of government at Harvard University, is certainly old enough to have been exposed to that principle.

Yet in a May 2 Wall Street Journal editorial, the professor embraced the opposite view, arguing that the supposed defects in our constitutional system demonstrate "the need for one-man rule." The rule of law, argues Mansfield, "is inferior to the living intelligence of a wise man on the spot."

From this perspective, the president is entitled to set aside the law whenever, in his judgment, necessity requires such action. This view has been expressed by the Bush administration, although never as candidly as it has by Professor Mansfield.

Lawless rule by one man is tyranny. Our Founding Fathers resisted it. Too many contemporary conservatives embrace it.

Let us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.