Constitutionality

Listening to the radio on the way to work this morning, the talking head was comparing two pieces of legislation. I think the topic was state pensions, but I'm not sure. In his commentary, he said, "well, this one is a bit cheaper, and this one has the advantage of being constitutional."

Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I hear that as a choice between a nice walk in the park and being mauled by an irate wolverine. If one is constitutional and the other isn't, the constitutional one is the only option. Period. Anything our government does that is unconstitutional is illegal. Why is this so hard to understand?