President Barack Obama lashed out June 22 over a federal judge’s ruling. Obama is upset because he is not being permitted to circumvent the Constitution.

The Interior Department is proposing new limits on hydraulic fracturing of oil and natural gas wells. On June 21, a federal judge in Wyoming ruled that federal agencies lack authority to establish new rules on their own.

U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl – an Obama appointee – wrote of his decision that the issue is not whether new regulations on “fracking” are needed. It is, instead, whether Congress has given the Interior Department the authority to promulgate such rules.

“It has not,” Skavdahl concluded.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest reacted predictably. He said the Interior Department proposal is aimed at “ensuring that hydraulic fracturing that’s done on public lands doesn’t threaten the drinking water of people who live in the area. It’s a pretty simple proposition.”

It is, but not in the way Earnest claims. It is a matter of whether the Obama administration abides by constitutional separation of powers.

Other federal judges have reached similar conclusions regarding several Obama administration initiatives aimed at wrecking the coal industry and driving up electricity prices. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend enforcement of the Clean Power Plan, pending a review of its legality.

EPA officials have virtually ignored that order, however. They are proceeding to coordinate enforcement of the plan with some states.

Only Congress and not federal agencies should have lawmaking power.

Obama has ignored that cardinal rule of American government. It is time he – and future presidents -are reminded they are chief executives, not kings.