Executive Orders - Part 1/7

Nearly everyone has heard of executive orders, but what are they? An executive order is an order issued by the president. While they are usually used to direct the executive branch in performing their duties, they have been used for a whole host of things. Executive orders do not have the force of law. They do not make law, they do not trump law and they can't enact policy.

That being said, they do have power. In 1998-99, Clinton waged a war in Kosovo, using executive orders and presidential decrees in doing so as part of the Serbian-Albanian conflict with NATO forces. [see this]

But the bottom line is, it's a memo for the executive branch and has been allowed to run unchecked by the Legislative and Judicial branches on whose toes it steps.