Tocqueville discusses how Presidential power does not change depending on which party controls Congress. As they are two separate entities, the President's ability to make legislation is not contingent on his party holding power in both houses (as he has none) and his duty to execute the laws remains as strong.
As we discussed in class, Presidential power strengthens in war time. American Presidents now exercise far greater power than Presidents during and before Tocqueville's time. This unofficially extends into the Congress realm, with a Presidential legislation often pushed through by members of their party. This happened with the Affordable Care Act, which of course now is causing many of the problems (like the government shutdown and what not). As this shows, passing legislation (or getting anything done) is much more difficult when the government is split (Executive v Congress/within Congress). Congress is now having a hard time in coming to an agreement about the debt ceiling because of the same ideological differences
I found an article that discusses ways that Obama could attempt to go around COngress in raising the debt ceiling if they fail to do so. Whether or not any of the ways would practically work, I still find it interesting as it reflects the growth in power of the President in promoting legislation.
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