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Charlie Savage, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, addresses the Bush administration's expanding executive powers and what it means for the future of our country.

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution. Are such measures necessary in an age of terrorism and imminent security threats? Or, as one critic suggests, will these new tools "lie around like a loaded weapon" for any future president, liberal or conservative, to impose his or her own agenda on the country?