U.S. President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Fl., on March 28. Mr. Trump has issued executive orders refusing certain lawyers and law firms entry to government buildings and barring companies with federal contracts from hiring them.Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

No one is above the law, and no one is beneath it. That, at its heart, is what the rule of law means. It is a foundational principle of the United States, as it is of Canada and other democracies. Yet U.S. President Donald Trump is actively undermining it in his call for the impeachment of judges who challenge his actions and in his reprisals against lawyers and law firms that stand up to him.

Something very ugly is happening. It is precisely the kind of thing the U.S. Constitution was designed to prevent – to restrain momentary passions through a deliberative system of checks and balances.

One of the passions of the moment is the perceived need to repel illegal immigrants. To that end, Mr. Trump has invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan........

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