Is TEXIT unconstitutional?

The U.S. Constitution contains no explicit prohibition against state secession. Article 1, Section 10 enumerates specific acts forbidden to states, but neither that section nor any other part of the Constitution explicitly forbids a state from leaving the union or grants the federal government power to prevent it. This constitutional silence is significant when considered alongside the Tenth Amendment.

The Tenth Amendment provides: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." This absence of delegated federal authority combined with explicit state power reservations means the decision regarding union membership rests with the people of each state.

The Texas Constitution further addresses this matter. Article 1, Section 1 establishes that "Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and the maintenance of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon the preservation of the right of local self-government, unimpaired to all the States."

Article 1, Section 2 declares that "All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit. The faith of the people of Texas stands pledged to the preservation of a republican form of government, and, subject to this limitation only, they have at all times the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may think expedient."