Most new laws in the US are made by Congress, however the Constitution also grants the President some legislative authority in the form of executive orders for the purpose of empowering officers and agencies of the Executive branch and managing operations within the federal government itself. Congress can also explicitly delegate to the President discretionary powers (delegated legislation) for a particular law. Like both legislative statutes and regulations promulgated by government agencies, executive orders are subject to judicial review, and may be struck down if deemed by the courts to be unsupported by statute or the Constitution.
Major policy initiatives usually require approval by the legislative branch, but executive orders have significant influence over the internal affairs of government, deciding how and to what degree laws will be enforced, dealing with emergencies, waging war, and in general fine-tuning policy choices in the implementation of broad statutes.
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The Daily Omnivore 