In the aftermath of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, there is a lot of confusion about the phrase "executive actions." The president has an assortment of different tools, and it is important to distinguish among them.

"Executive orders," issued by the president personally, often involve large-scale, government-wide matters, and contain his own orders to the officials who work for him. For example, an executive order might require executive agencies to reassess and streamline existing regulations, to promote diversity in the federal workforce, or to improve customer service.

Executive orders are nothing new. In his first five years, Obama issued 167 executive orders — a lower rate than George W. Bush (291 over eight years), Bill Clinton (364 over eight years), George H.W. Bush (166 over four years), Ronald Reagan (381 over eight years), or for that matter Dwight Eisenhower (486 over eight years).