Even though Frederic Bastiat argues that natural law is granted by god, I've always had a soft spot for what he said about the law and how it has been perverted.

"The law is the organization of the natural right of lawful defense. It is the substitution of a common force for individual forces. And this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each, and to cause justice to reign over us all."

http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html