Quando plus fit quam fieri debet
Quando plus fit quam fieri debet, videtur etiam illud fieri quod faciendum est. When more is done than ought to be done, that shall be considered as performed, which should have been performed; as, if a man having a power to make a lease for ten years, make one for twenty years, it shall be void for the surplus. Broom's Max. 76; 8 Co. 85.
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.