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Having stated the definition of authority, I build on that with the below text, to explore any limits that might apply to authority, specifically to governments within the United States of America.

What is government "authority"? Where does it come from? Does it have any limits, and if so, what are they?

Romans 13 is clear: "there is no authority except from YHWH".

Some have made the claim that all governmental authority is absolute, without limit. This treatise will show that such a claim cannot be an true.

If there are no limits on authority, then there can be no righteous disobedience to seizure of arms; no resistance to property theft; no resistance to wanton violence and property destruction; no resistance to forced relocation, imprisonment, and execution. If there are no limits on authority, the Egyptian midwives who helped Hebrew mothers hide their newborn male children from a bloodthirsty Pharaoh were rebelling against the Creator, and the German people who sheltered Jews from the National Socialist Party's holocaust were sinning against God.

If there are no limits on authority, then such authority can righteously prohibit worship of God, or compel worship of false gods.

If there are limits on authority, what are those limits?

Within the United States of America, the federal government was implemented through law in the form of the Constitution of the United States. When a person is elected to an office established by law, does that person suddenly wield unlimited authority by sheer virture of holding an office established under law? Of course not: any authority of the elected person is limited to that of the office, and that of the office is limited to that of the law.

What are the limits of authority under the Constitution?

The Constitution of the United States was written and made into law by a group of individuals who had been elected as representatives by other individuals. The authority vested in the Constitution rested upon the authority of elected delegates, which in turn rested upon the authority of a single individual.

It is undeniable that there are contradictory laws throughout governments within the United States. The method of resolving these conflicts is well established, and is recognized by US courts. When two laws conflict, the law which contradicts the Constitution is void. At the very moment of the contradictory law's passage, it has the same legal effect as if it had not passed at all. [1,2]

Therefore, it must be that actions taken by agents of government that are both outside the authority of law and exceed the authority of an individual are crimes; such actions are outside the authority ordained by God.

[1] Norton vs Shelby County, 1886; An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is, in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed.
[2] Marbury vs Madison, 1803; a law repugnant to the Constitution is void

Rights? Freedoms? Law? Justice? Voltaire once stated, "if you wish to converse with me, define your terms." To that end, the text below represents my efforts to define the underlying premises of such terms, with a specific focus on the nation wherein I make my home: the United States of America.

Authority: the power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge
Force: violence, specificially the initiation thereof

There are only two sources of authority for government: by delegation of authority derived from individual people, or from nothing other than force.

Force is well established as a source for governmental authority, and its track record is one which few free people are likely to defend as desirable.

Governmental authority derived from individuals cannot exceed the authority of a single individual, no matter the number of individuals that make up a the group of people. This is in harmony with the principles written in the Declaration of Independence.

Governments that claim to draw authority delegated from people yet exercise power in areas that exceed that authority are resting on force alone when functioning in those areas.

No matter the number, no group of people have authority greater than a single individual without resorting to force or the threat of force. Stating otherwise is tantamount to claiming that while a lone robber is exceeding his authority, a robbing gang of two, three, ten, thousands, or millions is somehow not exceeding their authority possessed as a body of individuals.

While the Almighty God YHWH establishes authority of governments, those governments are regularly followed with a physical process. God's prophet Samuel annointed both of Israel's first kings with oil; different versions of the United States of America were formed from law written by elected representatives.

The current version of the United States is the third, following the Declaration and the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution of the United States was created by a convention consisting of elected representatives - representatives that claimed authority to create law based upon the authority delegated to them by the individuals who elected them.

The authority of one individual cannot justly trample on the authority of a second; likewise, neither can a government created upon the authority of individuals.

When a single individual's authority is trespassed upon without consent, a crime has occurred. At that point, and only at that point, has a crime been committed. The authority possessed by the individual and delegated to government is then exercised by government in order to provide justice in response to the crime.

-edited on 2015-03-08 to add two definitions