In Latest Shutdown, Some Lawmakers See a Diminished Congress – The New York Times

“The timing of it wasn’t right; the House has to have its say,” Mr. Roberts said. “Now we’re in a situation where both sides say, ‘Well, it’s the other side’s fault.’ We just have to get through that.”

The desultory impasse has prompted some lawmakers to lament the magnification of what one former legislator described as “the natural tension between Article I and Article II of the Constitution” — Article I governing the legislative branch and Article II covering the executive.

“As Capitol Hill became more polarized, presidents became more willing or reliant on executive orders to overcome an obstinate Congress,” said former Representative Steve Israel of New York, who once led the Democratic campaign arm.

Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said the problem was hesitation on the part of congressional leaders.

“When it’s your president that’s in power, you owe it to him to put a bill that he supports on the floor,” Mr. Massie said. “The tragedy is that we didn’t do this in September.”

Mr. Massie was booed on the House floor last week after insisting on a series of roll call votes in the days leading up to the shutdown, an act of protest after the House Republican leadership blocked a vote on his war powers resolution to end support for the war in Yemen.

And while he criticized Mr. Ryan for failing to keep regular order in the chamber, he echoed support for the speaker’s decision to negotiate a different stopgap bill with billions of dollars in wall funding and disaster relief.