Dave wrote:

....A bunch of stuff...

Dave, you're way off here. Breakers are sized for the ampacity of the
circuit wiring. As long as the total load on the circuit is within
the rating, it's just fine and will do it's job as designed. There's no
protection for the device itself (in this case the saw) implied by the
breaker, simply the protection from overcurrent so that the household
wiring does not overheat.