Let's stick to the topic at hand, please. This isn't the venue for a general critique of the current administration.
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Originally Posted by Tom Servo
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Originally Posted by JohnKSa
Can someone who understand how the presidential/executive powers work explain how the president has the authority to selectively ban imports without using executive orders?
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He doesn't have to. The ATF has that authority on their own. All the President has to do is make the suggestion.
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In this case, he's not making a "suggestion," exactly.
The president is the chief executive of the executive branch, of which the ATF is a part, so he has the authority to direct its operations. When Congress gave the ATF the power to regulate imports of firearms, it implicitly gave the president the power to direct said regulation.This is generally accomplished by means of
executive memoranda, which are legally binding and constitute orders concerning the policies of the ATF and other federal agencies.
As I understand it, an
executive action is pretty much anything the president does within his authority as head of the executive branch, but that authority isn't at all well defined. Executive actions may set policy, or they may be wishes, as were many of the 23 that Mr. Obama promulgated last winter, or suggestions for such actions; they may be challenged in court or by Congress.
Executive orders, on the other hand, are actual directives signed by the president and published in the Congressional Record, and they carry the force of law. The requirement that they be published means that they're also more exposed to public scrutiny, which may account for Mr. Obama's reluctance to use them.