Assuming he is sane. And I'm sure he is.
The 14th Amendment states, in pertinent part:
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law...shall not be questioned.
If the debt ceiling limit is not raised by Congress, then:
Obama will be the last man standing. He will be the only one left who can make a decision on whether to destroy or save the country.
All eyes will be on him, no matter how bad the others were. The others will be forgotten. He will have the power to spend the money regardless. But will he have the right? Maybe - maybe not - but that shouldn't matter. This is an emergency and all he has to do is recognize there is only one sane course at that point.
In any case, note that Congress has ALREADY authorized the appropriations for payment of funds they (the Republicans anyway) now wish to change their mind on. Can they change their minds and "dis-appropriate" funds? I, for one, have never heard of that.
Do we, in the end, trust that Obama will do the right thing?
I do. That's why I'm not so concerned that the debt ceiling may not be lifted by Congress.
I trust that Obama will do it anyway.