GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Congress, the president and the American public have an obligation to fight back against bad Supreme Court rulings, but that doesn't include civil disobedience.
Santorum, appearing Sunday on
"Meet the Press," disagreed with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's assertion that
an expected June Supreme Court ruling declaring same-sex marriage legal should be ignored by states.
Huckabee, who also has announced a presidential bid, says that states who oppose same-sex marriage should ignore the ruling because the Supreme Court is a co-equal branch of government, not higher than the executive or legislative branches.
Santorum argues that the high court is an equal branch of government with the ability to overrule Congress and the president.
"They do it all the time," he said, but added, "I feel it's the role of Congress and the president to push back."
"We had a situation when I was in the Senate where the Supreme Court ruled a bill unconstitutional. We went back and passed another bill, almost identical, made the case the court got it wrong and passed it," Santorum said. "The court reversed its opinion."
Santorum said he would fight a pro-same-sex marriage ruling, just as he continues to fight the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision allowing abortion.
Santorum also said he disagrees with his fellow Oval Office hopeful Sen. Rand Paul, who is again fighting renewal of the Patriot Act.
"I think the Patriot Act worked very well," he said. "I'm not aware of any abuses of the Patriot Act that caused undue fear about invasion of privacy."
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