The President's move on immigration

Like Michael Sean Winters, I am inclined to think that the new policy, announced by the President, regarding the deportation of some persons who were brought here illegally, is the right policy.  I think that Congress should enact it.  (Indeed, I gather that Sen. Rubio was working on legislation that would have changed current law in accord with the new policy.) 

But . . . the rule of law matters, and it should matter to Catholics, right and left, who think that our current immigration laws and policies are flawed (even unjust).  Winters seems to suggest that support for the President's move is necessary for anyone who professes a belief in the importance of family, but I think this is wrong.  It matters, in constitutional government, who decides and how.  It mattered to Aquinas, and it should matter to us, and to our Bishops, as we think about the President's decision.  A decision made by one who lacks the legal power to make it is a regrettable decision, even if it coheres with good policy. 

Winters tosses a gentle elbow at conservatives who might see the President's decision as a calculated, election-year gambit (and overreach) by saying that it will "be curious to see if groups like Catholics and Evangelicals Together will bestir themselves on this issue, setting aside their perusal of the Federalist Papers long enough to recall the words of Jeremiah."  Certainly, Jeremiah matters more than do the Federalist Papers on very important questions of securing Heaven and avoiding Hell, but Jeremiah has nothing to say, and the Federalist Papers might, on the question whether the President's decision was authorized by Article II of the Constitution.  And, for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, this latter question matters, too.

UPDATE:  Winters responds, here.