watching al jazeera. remember we have complete coverage on the state of the union address, our coverage begins at 6:00, the speech itself at 9:00. >> hello, i'm ray swarez. since it became president but more specifically, since the republicans won back control of the house of

representatives after the 2010 midterm elections. the president has seen initiatives stalled, appointees blocked and his own political fate attached, far more than he choose, to the least popular congress in history. if you are president, is there much you can do about that. president obama has mused out loud in recent days about his desire to stop waiting for congress to see things his way. >> senators of both parties are working together to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. they are tired of seeing their guys and gals being outgunned. >> each of these proposals deserve as vote in congress. state of the union speech.

>> 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 are tied up in a grid lock congress. >> with approval ratings at all time lows, 2013 was a bad year for congress. if you judge congress, by the number passed it was one of the least productive 12 months into congressional history. first half of the 113th congress, even included a partisan politics endeuced 16 day government shut down in october. according to reports in the washington posts, as president obama -- his staff has a new strategy. bypass congress and get more things done by executive order. last week, when he addressed

the nation's mayors at a conference in washington. >> i can take executive actions with a phoneky rally around the country, to help grow the economy and restore opportunities. to air their concerns about the upcoming strategy. >> i am the first to acknowledge that the president and i don't agree on every issue, if you took ten, i think there are two or three we can agree on, and why don't we go after the issues we agree on. >> working around the divided congress may be one reason for more executive actions but it is not the only reason, 2013 was not the best year before the white house either. with problems like a botched

healthcare roll out. the biggest national security leaks in u.s. history. and the exploration of aid for the long term jobless while the economy struggled with near record high chronic unemployment. >> this is the year of action. >> thus the urgency to prove to the american public this administration is functioning. according to the poll, half the country disapproved of president obama right now, 46% approve. al in the papers poll, a question on how the country feels about the president's use of executive action. 52% support the approach. terrorism spite the push for more progress, key policy reforms are nearly impossible without legislation. such as increasing the minimum wage, and lowering the cost of access to higher education. with the state of the union coming less than two weeks

before they lose the authority to borrow nonetheless 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 actually do on his own? what's legal. what's politically plausible. and has he really exhausted all other options. joining us now -- caramel martin, executive vice president of policy at the center for american progress. in the first obama administration. in the brooks institute, he focuses on presidential power, and lori sanders a policy analyst at the art street institute, a think tank focused on advocating pragmatic free market solutions.

you have a pen and a phone too, what can he do with yours. >> i think it is rah great day that he can do in terms of executive actions things like regulatory father around climate issues. to regulate utility companies so that they are limiting the greenhouse gases in terms of convening power, he had a very successful effort around business leader encouraging them to hire veterans he can do similar activity with respect to low income workers or long term unemployed individuals at cap promoting the idea of expanding apprenticeship programs for discontinued youth that's something he can certainly use his power to push for, but also has access to regulatory actions administrative actions that can help promote those programs as well. >> it sounds like bunt singles, small ball.

these kind of things that you're mentioning not big initiatives of the united states. >> there are a lot of things that do require action to get the job done, immigration is a good example. we need comprehensive reform. to pass a strong bill, there's no reason we can't get a big initiative pushed through, there's some areas where the president can be powerful. one example would be using his power in terms of setting the rules around federal contracting. one with in five americans works for a company that has federal contracts. so if he is raising the standards for how workers are being treated, through federal contracts that can have ancillary effects for other workers even if they are not. let's talk about the rules.

how is the president constrained by the rules that he lived by, prescribed by the constitution what can he do, what can't he do? >> so there's a lot of leeway. a lot of discretion that is given to the branch to work on policies and work out solutions to the problems that face america. >> he can't design spending programs he can't throw the law out. he can't really create new law, what he can do is guide the ship within the thorough fairs of discretion, that he has. and hope that the outcome is consistent with with what he wants in. >> so in effect, taking money that congress is already

appropriated and using a measure of discretion about how those funds gets there. >> if that's true for federal spending it is true for regulation, it is true for directing to pursue certain policy ideals as well. >> lori sanders always a tension there, between the idea of distributed power, and checks and balances. there's definitely a huge tension. i work a lot on the republican side of the ail. we aren't going to focus on desporting them, if you want to make a good faith effort to say we need to focus on immigration reform, which i think we with do, i would love to see them get on reform.

may be tepid about the motivations and where hen't waywiths the immigration bill to go. >> that's an interesting example, because this administration has deported more americans than anyone a comparable period in our history. so deportations have been slowed down, while the executive branch has used discretion in formulating the line out of the country. >> right, it is definitely continued at a very high pace, and if obama really cares about seeing immigration reform passed i think the smarter way is to make a good faith effort, try to broker with the house, try to say you know it is acceptable to do a piecemeal, because it is so important to me that something gets done, that i am willing to work across the aisle. i don't know that that's necessarily something i have seen so far. >> he didn't say these people

aren't deportable, he just said there are other people that we have to worry about deporting first. is that your comfort zone. the which the supreme court has held to be an extremely strong power of the presidency, that the if the and coordination with the attorney general, can choose essentially who not to prosecute. and the supreme court has been fairly clear on this. >> that's the real it is there. >> does this stand out for how the president can work within his bounds and still get his own vision of policy forward? >> absolutely. and i think it is smart

government. i think if you ask the average person, they would endorse the idea that he focused on dangerous criminals and people who are a threat to our nation's security. the congress is not given to deport all undocumented individuals. so it's not only smart, for him to do that but it's the american people want to see from government. they want to see the government decision making strategic choices that help to protect people promote people, and i think that's a perfect example of that. but i do agree it is a short term solution, and we with need to see comprehensive immigrationry form move forward in congress. >> we will take a short break now, and when we come back, we will talk about the power of the president

understanding where we are, taking a critical look where we're going. >> there is much progress to report. >> immediately after stay with us as we get your reactions live from around the country and across the globe. don't miss special state of the union coverage as only al jazeera america can deliver. right here on al jazeera america.

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>> welcome back to inside story. i'm ray swarez. on this edition, we are looking ahead to the strait of the union address. in many ways when he speaks to lawmakers he literally confronts one of his biggest on zackles. congress itself. there are reports that the president plans to do more by executive order in this coming calendar year. and lloyd sanders is that less ideal. is that something the president should first try to do by legislationing only when he can't do it any other way. >> that would be outside of what he can do, and it will be unwise politically.

enwith it comes to smaller things there's a lot of room. i think the biggest fear among republicans that you see is that he seems to be increasingly willing to be broad, in how he interpreted his ability. >> is this sort of a last resort, when doing tut other way has been almost impossible. is it fair to say. that doing it the other way -- >> i don't think that's fair at all. one thing that commentators on both sides of the aisle have talked about, a lot, is that the president doesn't seem really willing to do a lot of those -- a lot of reaching out to congress. he leave as lot of things, delegate as lot of power, to nancy pelosi. he himself is very aloof. and when you want to enginedder trust and say i really want with to find a

compromise, then a having harry reid who is accepted close to zero amendments from republicans in the senate, it's probably not a very good way to go. so i think if you really think these are important, then he should be willing to butt in the meetings. butt in the'm, get his hands dirty. he is the president. >> they shut down the government for very little reason. and i think when you look at the track record, which you mentioned earlier 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 been successful like immigration reform, but i think it is on congress.

it is moving forward. >> many instances have given him the authority to act beyond what the text requires, so i think it is -- >> you are rejecting is suggest -- that if he has used his personal power, twisted more arms gone to the hill more often, hosted members at the white house more often, more couldn't have gotten done. >> in recent months but you know, i think that the issue.

>> i think in the meantime, the president is strategically focusing on things, he believes he has the best chancing of moving forward, things like immigration reform, i hope minimum wage can be another. we think it is very good evidence that it would help jump start our economy, in a way with that's absolutely necessary. i think that's what the american people want to see from the congress, i think the if the will prioritize trying to move those things forward, but in the meantime i think he is appropriately looking for other avenues some of which don't require more than just convening power. has barack obama in his years of president taken a maximalist view of presidential power, has he as many have suggested ignored congress is gone on his own?

>> certainly they had more power than president clinton had, same as true as we move back throughout the -- to say that it is a maximalist is true. >> of congress, seeding power, and that relationship with the president throughout his rest. >> i think we have some moments in history for sure, where there are peeks the civil war, world war ii, we have presidents stepping up their use of power, in a surprising way, or in a nontraditional way. but i think if you graph that curving, yeah, you will see

that president clinton was more powerful than president jefferson, and i think there's not much argument in that sense, now, that what that means for the outcomes of policy. for this president, it isn't just that he is ignoring progress, but i think in a lot of ways congress is ignoring him. >> fair comment. congress has not -- certainly in the house. >> the process exists for a reason, the constitution was drafted as defendant, for a reason. on the other side of the aisle right now, and it was george bush, and he was expanding authority this way, then it would be the democrat whose are complaining ink stead of the republicans. it is a simple and wac and forth, and i think the bigger

concern is john's point that you see this power in the presidency, which if it is a rebellion in the white house, i think lit be a big problem for the democrats. >> we will take a break, when we return, here is what happened from here on out, if the president goes at the state of the union and saysly start doing more of this on my own, wonder the possible scenarios playing out for 2014, this is inside story.

>> caramel, i stopped you just about you about to make a final -- >> where we with have seen the again the innerble they tried to pass the appropriations bills using their numbers. this is the house republican leadership. tried to pass a bill using their numbers and fry to pass the transportation and hudville, they didn't have the votes within their own caucus, and we saw that again in context of the farmville. so i think it is evidence that the brocking with congress doesn't stem from lack of leadership. it's stacked -- stemmed from republican leaders not seeming

to have the full faith of their own people. >> all more for the president to help you where you can double down. even for congress doesn't choose to do so, while he is continuing to work to congress. >> what tools are available to congress, john? if the president as congress -- within my power. >> so as i mentioned earlier, a lot of power in this grows out of discretion. start curtailing that discretion in the laws that they pass, now the challenge of course is the president needs to sign those so debates other discretion, become part of the process. but i think there's a real irony here, about the discussion of whether the president isn't doing enough, or whether continue isn't doing enough, can they do

more? surely. his relations are poor, but by any metric and according to anyone you talk to, but will that make a difference? it isn't really clear that it would, if he got more engaged whether they would start passing congress, be turte irony is this. if congress was willing to bargain with with the president in a more effective way, they get more out of the deal. than if the president takes action. and so the no bargaining approach that they have shown is something that's to their detriment, that is hurting their policy, and i don't think they realize it. >> if the congress continues with that aggressive posture towards the president's initiatives, is there a risk for them politically. now that i want to do it by myself, they are still not letting me, is there some possible down side risk as we approach midterm elections?

>> i think there is, but i don't know that that's actually the wrong hand to play. i would disagree with with john, i don't think that congress, particularly have had a nor bargaining approach. i think they try to start conversations about tax reform. and this is a hard position for them to be in, but i think they have been more willing than john gives them credit for. i think it does put them at risk. you saw them -- it was very very bad for their poll numbers. and if that sort of thing were with to play out again, it would definitely be bad going into the elections. i think we will learn a lot about where the american people really want with the country to be. the real battle will be who win withs the senate. >> and i guess what kind of argument they are willing to count on. i am not saying that people

are dumb, but there is something abstract about a separation of powers debate. when stuff is not happening. that's certainly true, but i think people tend to understand how the government is supposed to work, and we with don't live in a likuta tor ship, people don't want to live there, they like that the president has to rely on congress, they like that congress has to rely on the president, simply sayingly take matters into my ownnd has particularly when to not really to obama's fault or credit, he has this very professor aerial that gives him a measure of allowness, not only with with congress but with the american people. that say i know what is right, and i will pass it can be bad. >> we have to wrap it up there, but we with will continue this, thank you all, great to see you. that brings us to tend of this edition of inside story, thank you for being with us, in washington, i'm ray swarez.

>> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters, and these are the stories we're following for you. the president preparing for his fifth annual state of the union tonight. raising minimum wage for contract workers. the prime minister stepping down. and keeping track of these people. homeless on a bitterly cold night. making sure that they are getting what the