GOP Rep. Hayworth: Obama administration ‘like the imperial presidency’

{mosads}”He’s simply making an observation about precedent and the fact that he expects the Court to adhere to that precedent. It’s obviously, as he made clear yesterday, up to the court to make its determination. And we will wait and see what the court does,” Carney said Wednesday.

But Hayworth said the president was being intentionally deceitful about past precedent.

“Why mistrust me when you can just believe lying here? I mean it’s just terrible. It’s an awful thing,” Hayworth said.

On Wednesday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) called Obama a “bully” for his comments.

The senator added that the law would “force people to buy things they don’t want,” and said the president and his administration “believe Americans are stupid,” according to the Rock Hill, S.C., Herald.

Mitt Romney told Newsmax Wednesday he thought Obama’s characterization of the court was “a purposeful distortion.”

“Well, the whole idea of the Constitution and the courts that apply the Constitution is to have the capacity to ensure that Congress and the president do not pass legislation that violates the Constitution,” Romney said. “So the president suggesting that somehow the court would be violating its duty by applying the Constitution to test the validity of a piece of legislation is an extraordinary reach and a misunderstanding, and I think a distortion — a purposeful distortion — of the role of the judiciary.”

Carney said Thursday is was “kind of ridiculous” to suggest the president didn’t believe the Supreme Court had the power to strike down the healthcare law.

“The President spoke, in answer to a question, relatively briefly, and in the context of this case, made the statement that there is no judicial precedent — that there is longstanding judicial precedent which would argue that the Court should not overturn this law,” Carney said.