From Resolutions of Kentucky and Virginia in 1798.. Nullification and Interposition became a useful tool to keep Federal power in check. They were used for all sorts of reasons and all sorts of causes to nullify or void federal laws that were disagreeable or wouldn't work in the given state.
The first example was the Alien and Sedition Acts passed during the Adams administration. Another great example was the draconian trade embargo passed by the Jeffersonian Administration, that the great Thomas Jefferson signed immediately. (One of the few poor moral judgements he made in his life..)
Nullifcation has so many more examples, but it went away. The unsuccessful Southern Secession and the Civil Rights movement clouded everyone's thinking of what it was. Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, Lindon B. Johnson, Woodrow Wilson and many other presidents who are statist and centralist did not like the idea of nullification. It was disastrous to how they felt that a nation should be ran.
It hasn't been used in over fifty years, perhaps longer. Until now. The Obama Administration passed a health care package that penalized citizens for not having health insurance. Missouri had a referendum to make the State deny enforcement of such a law and it passed with 71.1% of the vote. (link)
Nullification and interposition are the two most powerful statutes against tyranny of the Federal government, and this is a huge precedent. It isn't just talk anymore, this movement has real teeth.
(For more on Nullification, a book was recently released: Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century by Thomas E. Woods Jr.)
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