We’re in a situation in which the president feels unconstrained by the law, his aides scoff at following it, the law enforcement bureaucracy has decided it cannot accuse or check him in office, his AG maneuvers to protect him, and the GOP Senate shuts its eyes and plugs its ears.

We can’t have the rule of law in America if its institutions place the chief of the executive branch beyond the law’s reach and he uses the impunity granted to him to spit on the law and use the powers of government—which belong to the people—to benefit himself and his campaign.

That’s what Trump’s impeachment was about and it’s what last night was about. The collapse of the rule of law under Trump is the problem Senate Republicans refuse to see or address.