What is the separation of powers in the US Constitution?

Answer 1

The Constitutional doctrine of separation of powersbetween the three branches--the executive, the legislative and the judicial--has evolved to preserve the coequality of the branches between the three, as envisaged in the U.S. Constitution. Essentially, the judicial branch interprets the laws, the legislative branches formulates the laws, and the executive branch executes and enforces the laws.

The doctrine of checks and balances embodies the Constitutional powers of one branch to "check" or offset as to the others in some systemic way, the powers of the other two branches, while separation of powers otherwise serves to "balance" the coequality of the three branches.

An example of a check accruing to the executive branch is the Presidential veto or the administrative rulemaking role of the executive branch. An example of a check accruing to the legislative branch is where a Presidential Executive Order must find its basis in Acts of Congress in order to be valid or the power to impeach and remove from office a President for misconduct constituted by "high crimes and misdemeanors". An example of a check accruing to the judicial branch is its power of judicial review to negate legislation that it deems unconstitutional, and the lifetime appointment, subject only to the legislative branch powers of impeachment and removal from office for misconduct, of federal judges.

Answer 2

It is to split the government into 3 branches(legislative, judicial, executive) of government so there isn't too much power in the states