Because horrible times call for drastic measures.
Meet Miss Drastic Measures:
“Call me ‘Drastic.’ But call me.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg
In a Democracy, laws are established or repealed by the majority. The rule of law's protection of minorities from the whim of the majority in a democracy is no protection at all.
In a Republic, a written Constitution safeguards the rights of the individual and the minority, despite the whim or panic of the majority.
Thus, in the American Republic, all citizens are in theory protected by law, in spite of the election of a lunatic. But the law must be enforced against a lawless president, and it is done by way of the remaining two branches of our government (Congress and our courts).
