Both have necessary and legitimate uses, which is why they exist. Any institutional power can be used corruptly. The defense against that is not to try to predecide and constrain every action of the executive. It is for the people, directly or through their representatives, to recognize the corruption and remove that executive through election or impeachment.

Genuine question: what are the legitimate uses of a presidential pardon? It always seemed strange to me, I don’t understand it.