Lincoln and the Constitution

During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln took actions such as increasing the size of the army without Congressional consent and throwing those who opposed or protested the war (notably the Maryland legislature) into prison without being brought up on charges (writ of habeus corpus). Lincoln claimed that he needed to take these "emergency" actions to preserve the union while others claimed that Lincoln made a mockery of the Constitution. Your question is this: Does the President have the right, during times of national crisis or emergency, to ignore the Constitution? For more background, research "Clement Vallandigham".