Oregon Legal Research Blog
Excerpt: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to increase meaningful access to our legal system and an array of Federal programs, it is hereby ordered as follows: ….” [Link to the Memorandum at the Whitehouse website or Briefing Room or at the Federal Register (and eventually the CFR) website.]
Legal Research Tips: Researching Administrative Law: Federal and State
Executive branch law making (aka administrative law) powers are as varied as Legislative and Judicial branch law making powers; each branch of government is equipped with its own law making tools (and rules) and avenues of creativity.
You can research U.S. Presidential (or gubernatorial at the state level) actions, e.g. executive orders, proclamations, memorandums, etc. using free and fee-based legal and government databases and through searching in the wild, e.g. Duck Duck Go, among other search engines.
Do not confuse federal law making with state law making. For all intents and purposes they are (loosely speaking) parallel law making entities. Federal law making entities do have additional authority, sometimes shared and sometimes absolute, over the states in some instances (e.g. U.S. Constitutional law making authority).