By CGTN’s Jim Laurie
Within a month of US President Donald Trump taking office, his shock executive order banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US has caught global attention.
So what is an executive order? How much power does an executive order have?
Demonstrators march from the White House to the Capitol Building in a protest against President Donald Trump's Muslim ban on February 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. /CFP Photo
What is an executive order?
In many ways, US presidential executive orders are very similar to instructions issued by a company's chief executive officer to its department directors. The president can issue the directive to federal agencies, and department heads, but only within the executive branch of the government.
How much power does an executive order have?
The key word is “order”, as oppose to “law.” The president can bypass Congress and the standard legislative process to issue an executive order. The president can also amend or retract an order, or nullify one by a former president.
However, checks still exist. The judicial branch can declare the published executive order unconstitutional, as a federal judge did in Washington State. And the legislative branch, Congress, can also pass a law that alters an executive order, or use less-radical approaches to restrict clauses.
US President Donald Trump signs an executive order to impose tighter vetting of travelers entering the United States, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on January 27, 2017. /Reuters Photo
Why is Trump's 'Muslim ban' illegal?
In 1965, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which forbids discrimination “in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of race, sex, nationality, place of birth or place of residence.”
So, the exclusion of any one country's citizens would be enough to challenge the president - not to mention seven.
Referring to that anti-discrimination clause, Trump's supporters suggest that the new president can set aside the 1965 law, citing two examples.
One is the 1952 law to “suspend the entry” of “any class of aliens”, that are harmful to the interests of the US. And the other is related to President Jimmy Carter, who barred some Iranians during the 1980 hostage crisis.
