Lincoln fights an insurrection
Lincoln's actions during the Civil War were somewhat controversial. Some of his most controversial decisions might actually be considered as being abuses of Presidential power. During his terms as president, he suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus, and upheld the Declaration of Independence above the Constitution.
Lincoln is accused of an abuse of power during the Civil War because he suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus. This law protects Americans from being unjustly imprisoned. Any prisoner, under this law, had the right to petition to be seen before a judge who could declare the arrest to be unlawful if not justified in a hearing by the court.
Lincoln used his power, during this suspension of that law, to imprison individuals throughout the War years. In doing this he removed from the legislature and the courts the power vested in them during normal times.
In his book “Lincoln at Gettysburg†Garry Wills explains Lincoln’s understanding of the War and of the two documents, the Declaration and the Constitution, which led him to the actions that he took in this matter.
Lincoln considered the actions of the Southern States were an insurrection rather than a war. The Southern States were not part of a foreign power but that Davis’s army was an outlaw band preying on the citizens of the United States. In Lincoln’ mind all of the military actions were taken to “insure domestic tranquility†as opposed to “provide for the common defenseâ€.
“He could suspend habeas corpus in the North by the same authority he used in repressing armed insurrection in the South.†The Southerners were not foreign belligerents and he was acting as a policeman dealing with a criminal band.