President Bush has signed a directive granting extraordinary powers to the office of the president in the event of a declared national emergency, apparently without congressional approval or oversight.
…The directive establishes under the office of the president a new national continuity coordinator whose job is to make plans for “National Essential Functions” of all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, as well as private sector organizations to continue functioning under the president’s directives in the event of a national emergency.
“Catastrophic emergency” is loosely defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html
So basically, the president has given himself dictatorial powers in the event of an emergency (as defined by the president) to be held until the president decides that the emergency is over.
Great.
"Why is he at large? Because we haven't got him yet. That's why. And he's hiding. And we're looking. And we will continue to look until we bring him to justice," Bush said defensively at a White House press conference. http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=177909