President is the one who interprets the Constitution, not the Court

Tony Snow today said that it is the job of the President, not the Supreme Court, to interpret the Constitution:

Question: But isn’t it the Supreme Court that’s supposed to decide whether laws are unconstitutional or not?

Tony Snow: No, as a matter of fact the president has an obligation to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. That is an obligation that presidents have enacted through signing statements going back to Jefferson. So, while the Supreme Court can be an arbiter of the Constitution, the fact is the President is the one, the only person who, by the Constitution, is given the responsibility to preserve, protect, and defend that document, so it is perfectly consistent with presidential authority under the Constitution itself.

I guess we need to re-write all the school books on the structure of our government. It has one branch, with some archaic institutions on the sidelines that arbitrate among themselves. The checks and balances come in the Oval Office when Bush discusses things with Cheney.