Treaties must be ratified by the Senate (with no involvement of the House), and executive agreements (which are more limited) may be entered into by the President alone.
In both cases, the involvement of Congress is far more limited than for domestic legislation. Domestic law is the product of a "single, finely wrought and exhaustively considered, procedure" (Clinton v. City of New York) which is presentment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentment_Clause. Bills are introduced in Congress, and must be passed in identical form by both the House and the Senate, and then the President must approve.
Presentment makes legislation a very public spectacle. Bills get publicity when they are introduced in one or the other house. The back and forth and amendments are done in public. The reconciliation between the House and Senate versions are done in public. The President's approval and signature is a public act. There is time to lobby, there is time to contact Congresspeople, there is time to research and develop counterarguments and alternative proposals.
The treaty process short-circuits all that. The treaty is negotiated in secret. By the time the Senate is given a treaty to ratify, the language is more or less final and there is no time to build up opposition.
In both cases, the involvement of Congress is far more limited than for domestic legislation. Domestic law is the product of a "single, finely wrought and exhaustively considered, procedure" (Clinton v. City of New York) which is presentment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentment_Clause. Bills are introduced in Congress, and must be passed in identical form by both the House and the Senate, and then the President must approve.
Presentment makes legislation a very public spectacle. Bills get publicity when they are introduced in one or the other house. The back and forth and amendments are done in public. The reconciliation between the House and Senate versions are done in public. The President's approval and signature is a public act. There is time to lobby, there is time to contact Congresspeople, there is time to research and develop counterarguments and alternative proposals.
The treaty process short-circuits all that. The treaty is negotiated in secret. By the time the Senate is given a treaty to ratify, the language is more or less final and there is no time to build up opposition.