Washington

Aides to President Barack Obama on Sunday offered a preview of the strategy of the president's State of the Union address, emphasizing Obama's willingness to bypass a gridlocked Congress to achieve his goals.

Daniel H. Pfeiffer, the president's senior adviser, said the speech Tuesday would include proposals that he could pursue without Congress, wielding executive power as he did last summer with his three-pronged plan to address climate change.

"The president views the power of his presidency in two areas," Pfeiffer said on the CNN program "State of the Union." "His pen, which is the executive orders, the presidential memorandums. Also the phone, where what he can do is he can pick up the phone, bring together American citizens and businesses to commit on key issues."

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said, "The president sees this as a year of action, to work with Congress where he can and to bypass Congress where necessary to lift folks who want to come up into the middle class."

Republican lawmakers said Sunday that they would be willing to work with the White House on points of agreement. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., suggested that Congress could move forward on portions of an immigration overhaul if it were not for Democrats' demanding an all-or-nothing approach to granting citizenship.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader, cautioned that his party's willingness to compromise would extend only so far.

"We're anxious to help him create jobs, but we're not going to go over and endorse more spending, more debt, more taxes and more regulation," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

The discussion of maneuvering around congressional gridlock comes less than two weeks before the Treasury Department expects to exhaust its authority to borrow money, potentially setting up another fiscal showdown on Capitol Hill.

"I think for the president to ask for a clean debt ceiling, when we have a debt the size of our economy, is irresponsible," McConnell said.