In today’s NYT, Charlie Savage reports on how President Obama evolved from a fierce critic of unilateral exercise of executive power to a proponent.

As a senator and presidential candidate, he had criticized George W. Bush for flouting the role of Congress. And during his first two years in the White House, when Democrats controlled Congress, Mr. Obama largely worked through the legislative process to achieve his domestic policy goals. But increasingly in recent months, the administration has been seeking ways to act without Congress. Branding its unilateral efforts “We Can’t Wait,” a slogan that aides said Mr. Obama coined at that strategy meeting, the White House has rolled out dozens of new policies — on creating jobs for veterans, preventing drug shortages, raising fuel economy standards, curbing domestic violence and more. Each time, Mr. Obama has emphasized the fact that he is bypassing lawmakers. When he announced a cut in refinancing fees for federally insured mortgages last month, for example, he said: “If Congress refuses to act, I’ve said that I’ll continue to do everything in my power to act without them.”

This is not a new phenomenon. Both Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush relied upon executive authority to advance policy initiatives Congress failed to enact, though sometimes these efforts were rebuffed in court. What’s interesting, notes political science professor William G. Howell in the story, is President Obama’s transformation on the issue.

Some of the President’s initiatives involve aggressive assertions of executive authority, many of which are likely to be challenged in court. The D.C. Circuit is currently mulling the legality of the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to rewrite the Clean Air Act with its “tailoring rule” and a lawsuit is pending against the President’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. Other initiatives, such as the imposition of conditions on waivers from No Child Left Behind’s requirements, may be more difficult to challenge.

The story also talks about the politics of the President’s actions.