I'm aware that they can, but that supposes that it will. Laws have a role, and under a just dispensation, the SC will not overturn just laws. When you have a president going 'oh well nothing can be done' when it's blatantly his SC justice to nominate, you get a Federalist and unjust SC.
Obama governed in a constitutional system. He didn’t have powers to force the Senate to do anything. He could persuade individuals if they were willing, but from Lieberman to McConnell they were not. And he only had a cooperative House for two years.
And if you don’t want them to feel obligated to constitutional boundaries, good luck. That never ends well. That’s what you’re supposed to learn in history.
Again, 'the president couldn't do anything except hand over the country to neo-confederates' is complete horseshit. If it had been a Dem senate and a GOP president, the blood would have been flowing in the streets. Saying well it was our turn but they just wouldn't is why we have fascism.