<P> We admit, as all must admit, that the powers of the Government are limited, and that its limits are not to be transcended . But we think the sound construction of the Constitution must allow to the national legislature that discretion with respect to the means by which the powers it confers are to be carried into execution which will enable that body to perform the high duties assigned to it in the manner most beneficial to the people . Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional . </P> <P> The court in McCulloch v. Maryland held that federal laws could be necessary without being "absolutely necessary", and noted that "The clause is placed among the powers of Congress, not among the limitations on those powers ." At the same time, the court retained the power of judicial review established in Marbury v. Madison, declaring that it had the power to strike down laws that departed from those powers: "Should Congress, in the execution of its powers, adopt measures which are prohibited by the Constitution, or should Congress, under the pretext of executing its powers, pass laws for the accomplishment of objects not intrusted to the Government, it would become the painful duty of this tribunal, should a case requiring such a decision come before it, to say that such an act was not the law of the land ." </P> <P> As Chief Justice Marshall put it, the Necessary and Proper Clause "purport (s) to enlarge, not to diminish the powers vested in the government . It purports to be an additional power, not a restriction on those already granted ." Without this clause in the Constitution, there would have been a dispute about whether the express powers imply incidental powers, whereas this clause resolved that dispute by making the incidental powers express instead of implied . </P> <P> In a related case following the Civil War, the clause was employed (in combination with other enumerated powers) to give the federal government virtually complete control over currency . </P>

Who has all law making powers not listed in section 8