In The Beginning: This Country

Back in the "good old days", the People of this (soon to be) nation declared their independence and freedom from a tyrannical government. In so doing, they established the commonly held belief and idea of personal rights, personal freedoms, personal powers, personal authorities, and personal responsibilities:

Declaration of Independence

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Soon to follow came the constructive document known as "the Constitution", that lays out the delegation of those powers and authorities as is necessary to establish a Government for the benefit of the People and their States:

U.S. Constitution
Preamble

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

And then to clarify, to ensure that the Government (Federal) not take any power and authority not delegated by the People, our Founders gave an Amendment to the Bill of Rights which declares that it is the People, or State that maintains those powers and authorities not delegated to the Government (Federal) specifically:
Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

This just goes to prove what I have been saying all along: it is the People (you and me) that are the source, the spring of all power and authority within this country. If we don't do something to fight for that recognition, we will soon be lost to an overstepping/overreaching government.