WASHINGTON (CNN) The U.S. Supreme Court will rule Thursday on the constitutionality of the sweeping health care law championed by President Barack Obama, in a hotly awaited decision that is bound to divide the country.

The stakes cannot be overstated: what the justices decide will have an immediate and long-term impact on all Americans, both in how they get medicine and health care, and also in vast, yet unknown areas of commerce.

According to a poll released Tuesday, 37% of Americans say they would be pleased if the health care law is deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Twenty-eight percent would be pleased if the Affordable Care Act is ruled constitutional, the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey showed, compared to 35% who said they would be disappointed if the court came back with that outcome.

But nearly four in 10 Americans surveyed said they would have mixed feelings if the justices struck down the whole law. The survey of 1,000 adults was conducted June 20-24.

Previous surveys have indicated that some who oppose the law do so because they think it doesnt go far enough.

The polarizing law, dubbed Obamacare by many, is the signature legislation of Obamas time in office.

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told supporters in Virginia on Tuesday: If Obamacare is not deemed constitutional, then the first three and a half years of this presidents term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the American people.

Romney, whose opposition to the law has been a rallying cry on the stump, continued: If it is deemed to stand, then Ill tell you one thing. Then well have to have a president and Im that one thats gonna get rid of Obamacare. Were gonna stop it on day one.

Speaking to supporters in Atlanta Tuesday, Obama defended his health care law as the way forward for the American people.

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Supreme Court Set to Rule on Health Care Law