Unlike most constitutional theorists, his answer is phenomenological: legitimacy is something that we experience, not something that can be guaranteed by theoretical accounts of law.
For Kahn, these dialectical currents are the foundation of a political theology of law—a concept he borrows from Carl Schmitt.
In this vein, much of Kahn's work has focused on demonstrating the inability of liberal political theory to provide a satisfying account of law.
In its emphasis on "sacrifice", and on the limitations of liberalism, Kahn's project bears some similarities to that of Giorgio Agamben.
On May 6, 2022, The Hill published an opinion by Kahn in which he argues that the originalist position regarding Roe v. Wade errs by purporting that their interpreted "truth of the law" should be more important than "the rule of law" and that thereby, the originalist position does not reach the standard needed to justify overruling the opinion.