Treaties and Executive Power

See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
--U2

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states:

[The President] shall have Power by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.

During his presidency, Barack Obama did not present either the Paris climate accord or the Iranian nuclear deal (a deal that made sense to me) to the Senate. Because he apparently didn't think that either treaties would pass muster in the Senate, Obama unilaterally committed the United States to both agreements using his executive power.

Since he became president, Donald Trump has discontinued those treaties with executive orders of his own. He has used his executive power to get the US out of commitments that were unconstitutionally created in the first place.

Lesson: A president who ignores the law to advance his agenda by using discretionary power reduces the durability of his legacy when a subsequent president uses similar discretionary power in reverse.