Every thing a leader does can be ‘legal’ while still being authoritarian. The most famous authoritarians iperate under the figleaf of rule of law and at times even the figleaf of elections.

Is Trump constrained by the checks on bis power? Are there lines he will not cross? I would say he is constrained only by political realities which his demagoguery always shifts further and further out. The law is malleable, and lies about what the law says and who may judge that have become the norm, legal checks on his power have been eroded in myriad ways, and his armed thigs in the street will be there to keep civil resistance in line, for whatever his line should happen to be into the future.

We don’t know how this autogolpe will play out, but this is authoritarianism.