There is a somewhat underappreciated issue here, though: the severability of the different aspects of a multifaceted bill.

FORBES: Another Court Finds Obama Care Provision Unconstitutional But The Law Lives On

The issue is known as "severability, " or what happens to the rest of a law if part of it is struck down.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: The ObamaCare Reckoning

The judge actually, despite a lack of a severability clause in the larger legislation, severed his ruling on the mandate away from the rest of the legislation.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

This is why the 2010 elections produced a new Congress that would never pass anything resembling the ACA. Just as severability of the mandate has no political future, it has no legal future.

FORBES: With or without mandate, Affordable Care Act fails

On Friday, the Cato Institute is hosting two panel discussions, one on each of two issues scheduled for oral arguments, the severability of the Individual Mandate, and the constitutionality of the Medicaid expansion.

FORBES: Supreme Court Pre-Game Show