"MCAS is not autopilot. The autopilot actually could fly the plane with only one sensor. MCAS is a flight envelope protection system. What MCAS would do when the autopilot switch is disabled is moot since Boeing and the pilots know it isn't autopilot, they wouldn't try turning off the autopilot. The procedure described is the one you say about shutting down the motor and that's what the pilots used."

Yes that's precisely my point of why it's a major issue. Because MCAS operates separate of the autopilot, there's no way to operate the electric motor separate from MCAS. Had MCAS been designed to be able to cutoff from the electric motor the pilots could have used the motor manually without a faulty MCAS interfering, and avoid resorting to cranking the trim wheel.