advisors say he will be willing to use executive power to advance his agenda when necessary. and you can watch complete coverage at the state of the union address on al jazeera america at 6:00 eastern. those are the headlines. inside story is next. >> is president obama about to begin flexing executive muscle in an attempt to get around not-always-cooperative congress? that's the "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez. since he became president but more specifically since the republicans won back control of the house of representatives

after the 2010 midterm electio elections, the president has seen initiative stalled, appointees blocked and his own political fate attached far monday than he would choose to the congress in history. if you were the president is there anything that you can do about that, legally, constitutionally. president obama has talked about his desire to stop waiting for congress to see things his way. >> senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. police chief are asking our help to get weapons of war off our streets because these police chiefs they're tired of seeing their guys and gals being outgunned. each of these proposals deserves a vote in congress. [applause] >> president obama at last year's state of the union speech.

>> but for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. >> 12 months on these visions have not been fulfilled. >> the time has come to pass comprehensive immigration reform. now is the time to do it. >> largely because they're tied newspaper a gridlock congress. with approval ratings at all-time lows, 2013 was a bad year for congress. if you judge congress by the number of bills passed it was one of the least productive 12 months in congressional history. the first half of the 113th congress even included a partisan politics induced 16-day government shutdown in october. according to reports in the "washington posts" as president obama prepares for his sixth state of the union speech his staff has a new strategy, by pass congress and get more things done by executive order. the president's signaled the changing approach last week when

he addressed the nation's mayors at a congress in washington. >> with a pen i can take executive action. with a phone i can rally folks around the country to help the economy. >> we heard that phrase again this weekend. >> he'll walk every way he can with his pen and his phone. the president is going to tell the american people that he's not going to wait for congress. >> the republicans took to the sunday morning television circuit to air their concerns about the upcoming state of the union strategy. >> i'm the first to acknowledge the president and i don't agree on every issue, but if you took ten issues there are two or three we may agree, why don't we go after the issues that we agree on. >> working around the divided congress may be one reason for more executive actions but it's not the only reason. 2013 was not the best year for the white house, either. with problems like a botched healthcare roll out.

the biggest national security leaks in u.s. history. and the exploration for aid for the long-term jobless while the economy struggles with record-eye unemployment. thus the urgency to prove to the american public this administration is functioning. according to the latest "washington post" pole, half the country disapproves of president obama right now. 46% approve. also in the papers' poll a question on how the country feels about the president's use of executive action. 52% of americans support the approach to utilize it more often. 42% do not. despite the push for more progress from a pen to a phone, key policy reforms are nearly impossible without bipartisan legislation. such as increasing the minimum wage and lowering the cost of access to higher education. and with the state of the union coming less than two weeks before the treasury department

loses its authority to borrow money, the chess game between the white house and congress is again moving into the spotlight. >> president obama may be planning to work around congress but how much can a president do on his own? what's legal? what's politically plausible, and has he exhausted all other options. joining me now to discuss the possibility and limits of presidential power are carmel martin, ex-sive vice president for american progress. she was assistant secretary of education in the first obama administration. josh hudak focuses on questions of presidential power and lori sanders a, an analysts at the r street institute looking at free market solutions. i keep hearing about that pen and that phone, and carmel participant, i'm going to

stipulate that you have a pen and a phone, too. what can he do with his that you can't do and that i can't do with mine? >> there is a great deal that he can do in terms of executive action with his pen. regulatory power around climate issues which called for his climate plan to regulate utilities companies so they are limiting the greenhouse gasses in terms of convening power. he had a very successful effort around convening business leaders, encouraging them to hire veterans. he can do a similar activity with respect to low-income workers or long-term unemployed individuals th the the internshp program for youth, and also has access to regulatory actions, administrative actions that help to promote those types of programs as well. >> it sundayit sounds like smal,

not big initiatives for the united states. >> there are things that do require congressional action to get the job done. immigration is a good example. we need immigration reform, and we need congress to do that. we have evidence that that is one area where they might take action. the senate passed a strong bipartisan bill, so there is no reason why we can't get a big initiative pushed through congress. but there are some areas where the president can be quite powerful. one example would be using his power in terms of setting the rules around federal contracting. one in five americans works for a company that has federal contracts. if he's raising the standards for how workers are being treated through federal contracts that could have ancillary affects. >> and that kind of thing he could do without getting a bill passed. >> yes. >> well, john hudak, let's talk about the rules. how is the president constrained

by the rules that he lives by, prescribed by the constitution. what can he do? >> there is a lot of leeway that presidents have. there is a lot of discretion given to the executive branch to work on policies and work out solutions to problems that face america. and in that context presidents can wield tremendous authorities. there are tremendous areas, federal spend something one. the president can spearhead certain policy initiatives that he likes and use funding programs.

>> using a measure of discretion of how funds are used. >> that's true for federal spending. it's true for regulation. it's true for directing actors in the administration to pursue certain policy ideals as well. >> laurie saunders, there is always attentio tension betweena of distributed power checks and balances and unfettered power of the president. >> yes, there is tension. i work a lot on the republican side of the aisle, and what you see is the fear of how obama has chosen to use his executive action so far. >> give us some examples. >> hhe defined an entire class f not illegal, we're not going to deport them. if you want to make a good faith effort, to say we need to focus on immigration reform, i think you need to be careful about how you then use your executive

action because it puts a little fear understandably inside a congressman who may be a little tepid about the president's motivation and where he wants the immigration bill to go. >> that's an interesting example because this administration has deported more americans than any in a comparable period in our history. so deportations haven't slowed down while the executive branch has used discretion in formulating the line out of the country. >> right, it's definitely continued at a high pace. if obama really cares about seeing immigration reform pass, a smarter way to try to broker with the house. try to say it's acceptable to do a piecemeal approach, it's important to me that something gets done and work acros acrosse aisle. >> he didn't change the law. he didn't say these people aren't deportable.

he just said there are other people we need to worry about deporting first. is that your comfort zone on presidential power? >> the president exercised prosecutorial discretion which the supreme court has held to be extremely strong power of the presidency that the president in coordination with the attorney general can choose essentially who not to prosecute when cases come up, and the supreme court has been fairly clear on this. now as lori said it's not an ideal solution. it's not a long-term solution if someone who is elected in 2016 doesn't like this policy it will go away. this is what he can get and that is the tension. >> does this stand out for you of how the president can work within his bounds and still get his own vision of policy forward.

>> i think it's smart government. if you ask the average person on the street they would endorse the idea that he focused on dangerous criminals and people who were a threat to our nation's security. congress has not given the executive branch sufficient resources to deport all undocumented individuals. so it's not only smart for him to do that, but it's what people--the american people want to see from government. they want to see our government decision makers make strategic choices that help to protect people, promote people and that's a perfect example of that. i agree it is a short-term solution, and we need to see comprehensive immigration reform moved forward in congress. >> we're going to take a short break now. when we come back we'll talk about the power of the president, whether congress gets to push back, and hey, if he could have done this all along, why hasn't he? this is inside story.

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>> welcome back to "inside story," i'm ray suarez. when the president speaks to lawmakers he confronts one of his biggest obstacles, congress itself. there are plans to do more by executive order this coming year. is that less than ideal? is this something that the president should first try to do by legislation and only when he can't do it any other way, rule by executive order? what is the ideal? >> i think there are different levels. there are some things that it would clearly never be appropriate to address with executive order. i think it would be completely inappropriate, and he said it would be inappropriate to sin single-handedly to decide never to deport.

that would be unwise politically. but in smaller things there is room a that the president has power. the bigger fear among republicans he seems to be increasingly willing to be broad in how he interprets his ability to issue executive orders, and you know when you have a congress that has very different ideas than the president and a new boldness it's a little exit was fear in the room. >> is this last resort when doing it the other way has become almost impossible. is it fair to say that doing it the other way is impossible? >> i don't think that is fair to say. commentators on both sides of the aisle they say that he delegates a lot of power to harry reid and nancy pelosi. he himself is very aloof. when you want to engender trust in congress and say i want to

find a trust in you, to give harry reid as ambassador is not a very good way to go. he needs to go to the meetings, put in the time. get his hands dirty. he's the president. he needs to step it up a bit. >> is that a fair comparison, he's no lbj, willing to get in the muck and mir americans. >> i think it's unfair to blame the president. they shut down the government for very little reason. when you look at the track record which you mentioned earlier in the show of this congress i think the fault is with the folks in congress, and i think harry reid has tried to move forward bipartisan legislation and in some places successful in immigration reform. but it's really on congress that

congress is not moving forward with more legislative efforts. and i think it's absolutely appropriate for the president, he has an obligation to the american people to try to solve their problems and to support them. to look for levers at his disposal that are beyond congressional action is the right thing to do. he has the legal authority to do so in many instances. in many instances congress has given him that authority to act beyond what the statutory text requires. >> you're rejecting lori's suggestion. if he had used his personal pervasive power, twisted more arms, hosted members of congress at the white house more often more could have gotten done? >> i think you see him increasing efforts like those in recent months, i think that the issue with the lack of activity in congress is not on the

>> if it's a republican in the white house in a couple of years, i think there will be a problem with the democrats. >> hold that thought, carmel. we're going to take a break. when we return we'll talk about what happens from here on out. if the president goes before the joint session of congress in the state of the union and says i'm going to start doing more of this on my own, what are the possible scenarios playing out for 2014? this is "inside story."

development.

>> welcome back to "inside story." i'm ray suarez. on this edition of the program we're talking about the tension between president obama and congress. the president is set to deliver his vision of the country in his annual state of the union dress. the question is can he get more done if he goes over congress' 553 heads. and what are the constraints on

executive power. still with us as we address these questions are carmel martin, executive vice president at the office center for, and ci stopped you just as you were about to make a final point. >> i think we have lots of examples where we've seen, again, the inertia on capitol hill before they shut down the government over the budget. they tried to pass appropriations bills using their numbers, the house republican leadership, tried to pass a house probations bills using their numbers. they try to pass transportation in hud, they didn't have the numbers to begin. the problem with congress, inaction with congress does not stem from presidential leadership. it stems from republican leaders

not seemingly the full faith of their own people. i just think it makes it all the more important for the president to look at where he can double down and look at ways that he can help americans even in congress doesn't choose to do so while he simultaneously continuing to work with congress. >> what tools are available to congress, john, if the president as forecasts tells congress here's what i'm going to do. i'm going to start doing things on my own within my power. >> as i mentioned earlier, a lot of presidential power goes out of discretion. congress can start writing more specific bills. start curtailing that discretion in the laws that they pass. now the challenge of course is the president needs to sign those laws. debates and bargaining over discretion become part of the process. but i think there is a real irony here about the discussion of whether the president isn't doing enough or whether congress isn't doing enough. can the president do more?

surely. his relations are congress are poor. by any metric or anyone you talk to. but will that make a difference? it's not clear that it would, if he got more engaged if bills would start passing in congress. but if congress was willing to bargain with the president in a more effective way they would get more out of the deal than if the president unilaterally takes action. so the no-bargaining approach that congress has shown over the last few years is something that is to their detriment and it's hurting their policy interests and i don't think they realize it. >> if they continue that posture towards the president is there a risk to them politically when the president goes out to the people and says, i want to do this, but they're not letting me, now that i want to do it by myself they're still not letting me. is there some possible down side risk as we approach midterm

elections? >> i think there certainly is, but i don't know if that's the wrong hand to play. i would disagree with john slightly. i don't think that congress, particularly the republicans in the house have had simply a no bargaining approach. i think they've tried to start conversation about tax reform. they've been open to come to the table over important issues where the president has taken the hard-line stance saying i'll only do it if we raise the taxes this much. i think they've been more willing than john gives them credit for. i think it does put them at risk. you have seen republicans get hurt during the government shutdown. it was well bad for their poll numbers and if that were to play out again it would be bad going into the elections. i think we learned a lot in 2014 about where the americans want the country to be. the real battle will be who wins the senate. >> and i guess what type of

argument they're willing to listen. when stuff is not happening. >> i think people also tend to understand how the government is supposed to work, and people don't like, we don't live in a dictatorship. people don't want to live in a dictatorship. they like that the president has to rely on congress and congress has to rely on the president. saying i'll take matters in my own hands not to obama's fault or credit, he has that professorial look to say i know what is right, i'll pass it by executive action, it could be bad. >> thank you all. it's great to see you. that brings yo us to the end of this edition of inside story. in washington, i'm ray suarez.

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