Every one of the miniature wargaming systems I have played, at one time or another (some constantly) has an "RAW/RAI" argument. These stand for "Rules As Written" versus "Rules As Intended."
There are specific places where RAW and RAI go. They also have different objectives. There are also "rules lawyers" who attempt to break down each individual phrase, with the intent of "it doesn't say I can't, so that must mean I can."
Also, the written word is very powerful. When each word has an agreed upon meaning, there must be only that meaning for that word. There may be other words with a similar meaning, however that does not make the two words equal in meaning.
Looking at my current primary miniatures game, Battletech, the RAI gives the history of the Battletech Universe and what each of the rulesets do. There are currently four core fulebooks, with a fifth due out "soon-ish." Each of these tomes gives detailed rules on how to do what.
The Constitution is also very similar. There is the "RAI" area, namely the preamble where the reason and the goals of the Constitution is laid out in very broad terms.
...in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity...
Then we have the Rules As Written, like Article 1, Section 9, 3rd paragraph:
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
This passage means that no small, specific group(s) of the People shall be targeted for punishment or profit and no law can effect the Actions of the people that were committed before the law was passed. If you know the definitions of "bill of attainder" and "ex post facto," the meaning of that part of the Constitution is clear.
I can think of several instances where this law was violated, the first one coming to mind was the Domestic Violence Act which was passed in the 90's. It stripped anyone convicted of any domestic violence charge of their Second Amendment rights, including misdeameanor convictions, even if the conviction was years before this law passed and all obligations have been fully discharged. The bill of attainder example is one where several years ago Washington wanted to punish bankers on Wall Street, so they passed a law of a 90% tax on any bonuses that was structured and worded in such a way that the law only affected less than 100 people nationwide, all of them on Wall Street.
Now we have the SCOTUS ruling in King v Burwell, over this part of the IRS Code:
(2) (a) the monthly premiums for such month for 1 or more qualified health plans offered in the individual market within a State which cover the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or any dependent (as defined in section 152) of the taxpayer and which were enrolled in through an Exchange established by the State under 1311 [1] of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, [...] Bolded is mine
So, the law is quite clear, it quite clearly reads for each State that has a health care market individual to the State. By the way, Johnathan Gruber, the principal writer of this monstrosity, has clearly stated on multiple occasions that it was written this way to force the States into using the exchange. We have the authors words, and his voiced concurrence to cement his intent.
Today, SCOTUS rules that, "Those are what the words say, but that is not what they mean."
Mr. Roberts (I will from now on have great difficulty using the word "Justice" with his name) wrote in the Majority opinion:
The combination of no tax credits and an ineffective coverage requirement could well push a State’s individual insurance market into a death spiral. It is implausible that Congress meant the Act to operate in this manner. Congress made the guaranteed issue and community rating requirements applicable in every State in the Nation, but those requirements only work when combined with the coverage requirement and tax credits. It thus stands to reason that Congress meant for those provisions to apply in every State as well. Pp. 15–19.
To tell you the truth, I don't give a running rats ass what they meant. This is what they said, and the law should be appliled as they said. If that is not what they meant, then Congress should change the law so it says that they meant.