COEUR d'ALENE - Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says it's his obligation to defend the Idaho Constitution at all costs.

During a meeting Thursday with The Press editorial board, Wasden talked about that commitment in the context of his primary election campaign, in which he is being challenged by Chris Troupis.

Wasden said there are several state election candidates who have issues with him and his work on the Idaho Land Board.

"Their view is that government should not compete with the private sector, therefore it's improper for the Land Board to acquire commercial land," Wasden said.

The problem with that view, he said, is that the state constitution specifically calls for state lands to be managed in a way that ensures the maximum financial return.

"From my philosophical viewpoint, I don't think government should be competing with the private sector...but that's what the constitution says, so what I think doesn't matter," Wasden said.

Disregard for state constitutions appears on both sides of the political spectrum, he said.

Wasden said he was recently at a meeting also attended by United States Attorney General Eric Holder.

"He said, 'By the way, state attorney general, if you don't like what your state constitution says, you can ignore it,'" Wasden said.

Holder was speaking in the context of same-sex marriage, but it was the same principle, Wasden said.

"My obligation is to defend that constitutional provision. Whether I agree or disagree, it doesn't matter. My job is to obey the law," Wasden said.

The solution for those who disagree with the constitution is to change it, he said.

"What you don't do is ignore it. That's what I reject, the whole Barack Obama concept of ignoring your constitution," Wasden said. "Some people on the right are saying to do that, and some people on the left. Neither of them are correct. We do what the constitution says."

His critics are also calling, he said, for the state to "take back" the federal lands within Idaho borders.

"I'd like to kick them out too," Wasden said.

But that's not possible, he said, and pointed to the history of the creation of the state of Idaho.

Before being admitted to the Union in 1890 by an Act of Congress, the land now known as Idaho was part of various territories of the United States.

"They owned the property before we ever became a state," Wasden said.

He said that when Idaho became a state, the people adopted the state constitution.

"Our own constitution says, 'The people of the state of Idaho forever disclaim the unappropriated public lands that lie within the borders of our state,'" Wasden said. "That means we forever gave up any claim we would have had to those unappropriated public lands, forever."

Through the years, the idea that those lands belong to the federal government has been reinforced by various public policy actions.

Wasden said there are some people who believe the federal government violated a trust because they were supposed to dispose of the those federal lands and they didn't. Wasden disagrees.

He said his critics are telling people that there are several western states that are going to file a lawsuit against the federal government on the basis of that alleged trust violation.

Wasden said he has spoken to governors and attorney generals from those other states, including Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming and Utah.

None of the states is actually in the process of filing a suit, he said. Most have decided it would most likely violate their own constitutions or it needs to be studied further.

Wasden said he's an attorney, and it's his job to "call the balls and strikes" fairly. He doesn't have a personal agenda, he said.

"I'm not the king. I'm not trying to impose my will. I'm trying to do what the people's will is," Wasden said.