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Standards of washington, this is certainly it. this has never been done before. we call the house historian. you go back to the administration of teddy roosevelt and even then, there is no direct comparison. what he's done is made a recess appointment when the congress is not in recess. and the president and his staff are perfectly willing to suffer the slings and arrows about technicalities and procedures and watch people wring their hands and portray him as standing up for the middle class. they think the polls are on their side. they think it is the right thing to do. every three days the h...

Provoking howls from the republican lawmakers. chief washington correspondent ed henry has details. >> the most in your face move of president obama's we can't wait campaign. sparking a constitutional and legal showdown. heading to ohio. he uses power to defy republicans and install the state's former attorney general as the new consumer watchdog. >> the financial firm have army of lobbyists in washington looking out for their interest. you need someone looking out for your interest and fighting for you. >> republicans have little quibble with codray. their beef is with the consumer financial ...

Agency until a new president and congress. >> bret: not only did the recess appointment happen but the president installed three people to the national labor relations board that were also being blocked in this pro forma session by the republicans. charles, what about his this standoff? >> i think it's not about the appointee or even about the agency. i think this is a lawless action by the president. the end of a long string of lawless actions. it's banana republic style. the president saying i won't let congress stop me, actually. but it's in constitution that you have to have the senate app...

Cordray but no go there as well. now the president has done something that has enraged republicans today, tamron. they're calling it an illegitimate abuse of power. but what they're calling it in democratic circles, or at least how they're portraying it, the president standing up for what he believes is right, procedure and nice at thises of the senate be damned. this is what we're talking about. this is a recess appointment. the trouble is the senate which is in charge of confirming these appointments, of course, is not technically in recess. they come in every three days. they bang the gavel...

What do you think? >>guest: it will be tricky. congress is not officially in recess. there is no joint resolution of recess. so every three days they have to have a pro forma session, a couple of people, at least to convene in washington. and i guess he could squeeze that in but it is a bad idea, and recess appointments are done to bypass the senate, the advice and consent required of the constitution and then you get people who will spend a whole year as a director of medicaid and medicare and it a wasted time. on their budget list, but for the country it is wasted time. so, i hope the presid...