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Rule of Law: Arizona finds itself in more hot water with the left, declining to give state benefits to illegal aliens whose deportations have been stayed as a political favor by the White House. Tell us again what "illegal" means?On Thursday, Governor Jan Brewer enraged the White House, the ACLU and open-borders activists by issuing Executive Order 2012-06, stating that her state reaffirmed the intent of Arizona law on state benefits -- from driver's licenses to in-state college tuition -- to illegals, which is a big fat "no" to all of the above. That was in response to the Obama administration's "Deferred Action Program," a Homeland Security order allowing illegal immigrants under 30 to avoid deportation with impunity for at least two years -- an act that mimics the Dream Act, which failed in Congress.It was a gutsy, in-Obama's-face move because Arizona didn't win a complete victory from the U.S. Supreme Court on SB 1070 earlier this year.That much-demonized law called for the state to enforce federal law on immigration even if Obama's feds had no intention of enforcing it themselves.The Supremes upheld some of Arizona law's important tenets -- such as the right of police officers to seek information about the legal status of speeding vans loaded with dozens of people in what could be human-smuggling operations -- but it struck down other provisions, which prompted media glee about its supposed failure.Failure or not, this move shows that the governor is refusing to resign herself to the idea that the rule of law is only what President Obama finds politically convenient -- and that budgetary discipline and the will of the people are both important.It's an important step because the Obama administration is likely to take Arizona to court yet again over the statement.Yet it's Obama who isn't following the rule of law, not Arizona. Aside from the naked political intent of the Obama fiat -- an end-run around Congress through a de facto enactment of the Dream Act, and the fact that the order was issued just months before U.S. elections, just as Obama was angling to win the Latino vote -- the big problem is that the policy attempts to usurp the rule of law and replace it with regulations.Well, regulations aren't laws, and Brewer's reassertion of state control is an effort to say that the law -- and the will of the voters -- matter.True, the Obama White House might just get away with letting illegals stay here. But Arizona doesn't have to issue them driver's licenses -- something all states insist is a privilege, not a right, anyway -- or give them work permits if they aren't here legally.That's the nub of it -- legally. The Obama administration not only doesn't seem to care whether people immigrate here legally, in essence ignoring our own law.The legal immigration process remains a nightmare -- with high costs, long lines and wait times, and massive incompetence among the famously nasty public employee union members who process immigration applications.Rather than fix that -- tending to the feds' own house, so to speak -- Obama will harass Arizona for its insistence that those it serves be here legally.Improving the legal immigration process would make legal immigration more attractive than illegal immigration. But it would also end Obama's ability to issue spoils in exchange for votes, which is what his current pandering shows is his preference.Brewer pointed out that two things were responsible for her stance: the fact that allowing 80,000 illegals to claim public benefits will blow a hole in Arizona's budget, and that Arizona voters have expressed their will in this matter in at least two votes and, indeed, elected Brewer largely based on the idea that they didn't want to pay for benefits for illegals.Now a federal lawsuit against Arizona is expected. Brewer, standing fast, says bring it on. That she can do so as election day approaches plainly suggests that she knows which way the political wind is blowing.

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