well, in theory, Congress funds executive branch stuff. So if Congress had a spine and actually behaved the way it is meant, it could stop funding executive branch stuff it doesn't like. It could also pass laws limiting the stuff it didn't like. Man, those were some crazy people often known as founders for having such idealistic notions like that. They just were not able to think past their recent experiences of fighting a war to free themselves from the king to think that enough time could pass that the slippery slope could hit bottom to allow for the modern day results
They were certainly able to think far enough past their recent experiences to anticipate this could happen. They talked about it. They're conclusion was "If they don't want democracy they don't have to have it. We can lead a horse to water but not make it drink" This isn't the fault of the founders. They defeated the factionalism of their time.