I can’t tell you why the Obama administration decided to be so much more modest about pushing the limits of executive authority in the context of gun control than it has about a wide range of other issues, from climate change to Obamacare to war in the Middle East to immigration.

But I’m hoping there’s a sense that criticism of the president’s unilateralism is starting to become politically damaging to the Democrats, because the only way in the long run that presidents are likely to be restrained from abusing their authority is if there is a political price to pay. Regardless of whether your favored candidate for president is Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, a sense that presidents are politically constrained from undermining the separation of powers should be good news.