A constitutional crisis can occur when the government is not functioning as intended, and the Constitution is unable to resolve the problem. Does the Trump administration’s defiance of federal court orders create a constitutional crisis? A little background on the creation of our constitutional form of government might be helpful in understanding the issue.

With the defeat of the British in the Revolutionary War, the governance of the newly independent 13 colonies was by the Articles of Confederation, which were created by the Continental Congress in 1777. They were in effect from 1781 until the present Constitution became effective in 1789.

The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution for the United States of America. The Articles did not produce an effective government for a number of reasons, including the lack of a chief executive, no national court system, no national military and no direct system of taxation. For these reasons and others, a Constitutional Convention was called in 1787. The result of that Convention was the creation of our present Constitution.

To become effective, the Constitution had to be ratified by a minimum of nine of the 13 former colonies. To gather support for the new Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote a series of essays known as the Federalist Papers, explaining how this new form of governance would operate. These efforts were, of course, successful.

As Americans, we are not united by race, ethnicity or religion, but instead by adherence to the United States Constitution, the oldest and longest standing written constitution in the world. We have been governed by it for 236 years.

Part of the genius of the Constitution is that the Founding Fathers understood the weaknesses of human nature. James Madison in Federalist Paper No. 51 stated: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” They understood that an individual or group with power will seek to accumulate more power, and for the government to be successful there must be limitations placed upon that power.

The Founding Fathers devised a governmental system where the powers of government were divided among legislative, executive and judicial branches, with numerous checks on the power of each branch. The legislative branch is powerful because it passes laws and appropriates funds for the operation of government. The executive branch is powerful because it has the police power to enforce the law. The judicial branch interprets the law and determines the constitutionality of legislation.

Unlike the executive and legislative branches, the judicial branch does not possess the power to enforce its decisions. It relies on the voluntary compliance of the executive branch to enforce its decisions. As stated by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Paper No. 78, the judicial branch “…has no influence over either the sword or purse….” It “…must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.” In other words, the judiciary has no army to enforce its judgments.

People voted for Donald Trump for many reasons. What they did not vote for was a president who would refuse to enforce court orders.

The 5th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution state that the government cannot deprive any person (citizen or not) of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard before one can lose life, liberty or property. The Trump administration is currently refusing to enforce court orders that guarantee people due process.

In defying a federal judge’s order to turn around the deportation flights to El Salvador, Border Czar Tom Homan stated: “I don’t care what the judges think.” President Trump is currently defying a unanimous Supreme Court decision to facilitate the return of wrongly deported Albrego Garcia to the United States, lamely claiming that the most powerful country in the world cannot require the tiny Central American country of El Salvador to return him.

Green card holders have been arrested and are in detention for peacefully expressing views with which the president does not agree. All of these people have been denied due process of law. In President Trump’s recently televised conversation with El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, Trump suggested he might consider sending U.S. citizens convicted of crimes to El Salvador.

Yes, we have a constitutional crisis. Unless President Trump follows court orders, our democracy has ended and we are under authoritarian rule. What can ordinary citizens do to prevent us from suffering such a fate? This is not a matter of Republicans versus Democrats. It is a matter of defending the Constitution. We cannot allow anyone in our country to suffer the denial of due process. If we fail to protect those who have been denied one of our most fundamental rights, any of us could be next.

There are some things we can do.

Write to your congressional representatives and let them know of your concerns. Congress is a co-equal branch of government. There has been a deafening silence from Republican representatives and some Democrats as well. The number one goal of most of our representatives is reelection. Many Republicans are not speaking out because of fear that President Trump will run a candidate against them in the next primary, and the candidate will be bankrolled by Elon Musk, the wealthiest person on Earth. If our representatives know that if they don’t put a stop to the slide toward authoritarianism, they will be out of a job, they might act to defend our rights.

Exercise your First Amendment right to demonstrate and express your views. The demonstrations must be peaceful. There is no excuse to act like the violent mob that stormed the Capitol four years ago, attempting to prevent the certification of the presidential election results.

Use social media to constructively express your views. Attack the issue, not the person. Name calling is counterproductive. Engage in dialogue with those who hold different views and genuinely listen to them. You cannot expect someone to listen to you  if you are not willing to listen to them.