This article is from the Lawful Arrest/Search/Seizure FAQ, by Ahimsa Dhamapada ahimsa@mu.clarityconnect.net with numerous contributions by others.
Inherent powers are powers which governments must have in
order to rule. They are not conveyed upon it by the people,
they preexist or are endowed upon it by fiat of God.
If you believe, along with Thomas Jefferson, that
governments "derive their just powers from the consent
of the governed", then there is no such thing as inherent
powers; the government has exactly the powers that the
people delegated to it. (And the people can only delegate
powers which they originally had).
 
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