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Brother Brian, sure! It's no different than a Supreme Court (or any other federal court) ruling on an act of Congress. Its null and void. So at a minimum it means no legal process can be invoked to enforce the Exec Order. So if you have an Exec Order that says "arrest Axe" 1/
the order has no force at all if it's unconstitutional (as our good Judge DeGiulio would no doubt rule). So anyone who disobeyed it couldn't be prosecuted or fined. That's the simplest thing -- federal courts won't enforce an illegal order. BUT there's much more 2/
The real issue is whether fed cts can affirmatively take steps to block enforcement of an illegal order. The answer is yes. They can issue an injunction requiring the Executive Order not to be enforced (this is what we won for versions 1 and 2 of Trump's muslim ban). If 3/
the President refuses and insists on enforcement, any federal officials enforcing the order would be guilty of contempt and could even be jailed. (There is an asterisk around the President,since his AG has this theory that the President can never be indicted, even for murder.) 4/
Now it's never been an issue before, but who knows with Trump, what happens if a President still insists on enforcing an Exec Order declared unconstl. The federal marshals might come to arrest Exec Branch officials. What if they resist? 5/
There are 2 paths. One is Eisenhower's at Little Rock. In the face of resistance to the Supreme Court order, he sent in the troops to enforce it. The other is to try to keep defying the order. The judiciary doesn't have its own troops. It would be a constitutional crisis. 6/
Normal Presidents don't raise such questions. But this President has such contempt for the rule of law, anything is possible. Notably Trump's favorite President, Andrew Jackson, was the one who came closest, saying "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it" END
