Washington ( CNN ) -- Starting his sixth year in office , President Barack Obama promised to use the power of the pen to push his legislative agenda . Translation : executive orders , the tool used by every president except for one -- William Henry Harrison , who died on his 32nd day in office . As for Obama , he said , `` Let 's make this a year of action '' during his most recent State of the Union speech , referring to his willingness to employ his presidential pen to move forward on priorities stalled in Congress . His opponents on the right have criticized him for unconstitutionally expanding executive authority . Putting him in a politically tricky spot , his political allies are jumping on the executive order train and calling on the President to use it for their policy priorities . Nearly 250 members of the House and Senate sent a letter to the President on Tuesday asking that he sign an executive action that would prohibit federal contractors from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation . Rep. Frank Pallone , D-New Jersey , said he had been pushing the White House on the issue `` for several years now '' but essentially got the cold shoulder . Pallone said he was told by the Obama administration that the issue was being examined . With no final answer given , Pallone and more than 200 of his colleagues decided the executive order route was a viable one . `` He was speaking about wanting to move on a progressive agenda , '' Pallone said . `` Those of us who have these various priorities are asking him to make those priorities part of that agenda . '' The President 's use of the tool , which he has employed at least 168 times during his tenure , has been used for both menial and meaningful measures . He has used it to change the name of the National Security Staff to the National Security Council Staff . He also imposed sanctions against Russian officials over the dispute in Ukraine . Political risks of acting unilaterally . In most cases , the President determines which issues to pursue via executive authority . By asking him to act unilaterally potentially puts Obama in a difficult spot . Outside of potential legal debate , there are political risks . Ohio State University Law School professor Peter Shane said , `` He can claim to do things on his own , but if he does n't , he looks weak or out of touch with his base . '' This is at least the second time that allies are pressuring Obama to use his executive authority to further a policy agenda . As the prospects of comprehensive immigration reform continue to dim , some Democrats have asked the President to use his executive authority to halt deportations of immigrants illegally in the country . Obama has deported more people than any previous presidents , angering Latinos -- a key Democratic voting bloc -- who say Obama 's deportation policy is extreme as it creates fear and heartache . For months , the President said he did not have the authority to halt deportations . But after continued pressure that included Hispanic leaders calling him the `` deporter-in-chief , '' the President announced last week that he called for a review of deportation policies . Dems to Obama : Suspend deportations . While Shane said Obama is not acting any differently than previous administration , he said `` the President has done himself a bit of a disservice by saying he 's going alone . '' Opening Pandora 's box . He 's put the idea out there and opened the Pandora 's box . Additionally , executive directives can be undone as easily as they are done , leaving the next president the ability to undue any one of them . And Shane said they sometimes leave Congress off the hook from having to act . But Pallone said that the LGBT discrimination executive order would provide incentive for Congress to pass broader legislation , the Employment Nondsicrimination Act , prohibiting any discrimination based on sexual orientation . The White House has n't said if it would move forward with Pallone 's idea of an executive order , but in Wednesday 's daily briefing , White House spokesman Jay Carney said ENDA `` would provide those protections broadly in a way that an [ executive order ] would not . '' `` I think it 's a step towards ENDA , '' Pallone said , comparing it with the President 's recent executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors . He signed the executive order while Congress works to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 10.10 . But Republicans are sure to balk . Republican strategist John Feehery cautioned the President , saying executive actions will make him look weak and ineffective . `` The more he goes on down this road , the less ability he has to get anything done in Congress , '' Feehery said . But that was n't Pallone 's concern . `` The President has said this is a 'year of action , ' we can do this for federal contractors . ''
President Obama has pledged to use executive orders to further his agenda . Nearly 250 lawmakers ask Obama for LGBT employment discrimination executive order . Pressure on executive orders could complicate the President 's agenda with Congress .