If you want to get technical about the US constitution the constitution merely enumerates SOME of the rights that exist, it certainly does not grant them, the ones listed are simply not disputed (what the right entails certainly is). The US constitution should really be viewed more as enumerating the rights of the government, as all rights not explicitly granted FROM the people TO the US gov't vest with the states or the people.<p>The Federal Gov't actually gets most of it's power in legal theory from a serious abuse of the interstate commerce clause.<p>You'll notice that the US constitution doesn't actually grant a right of free speech, it prevents congress making laws abridging the freedom.