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WASHINGTON When President Barack Obama was blocked by Congress on issues ranging from gun control to immigration, he turned more than once to executive actions to get his way.

In response, congressional Republicans complained that Obama had overstepped his authority ruling by executive fiat instead of working with Congress to set policy. And they cheered when judges reined in some of Obamas orders, such as those dealing with immigration.

But as President Donald Trump starts his administration with his own stream of executive actions, many of his fellow Republicans have been more willing to go along with the way Trump is exercising authority.

There is a certain irony here in that me and others were very acutely aware of the grasping of more and more presidential power by President Obama and exercising it through executive orders, said Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb. President Trumps use of the executive order has also been robust.

Fortenberry said the executive branchs power has been expanding for a century or more, and that many Americans today have the erroneous belief that Congress is supposed to do what the president tells it to do.

Midlands lawmakers object to that idea. They consider the legislative branch to be equal to the executive and dont want presidents to set important policy with only the stroke of a pen rather than a congressional vote.

Still, Fortenberry and several other Nebraska and Iowa members of Congress told The World-Herald that they were willing to give Trump some latitude because some of his executive orders are aimed at rolling back Obamas policies. They said they had not seen him overstep any legal boundaries yet.

Besides, they added, Trump is moving swiftly to implement what he told voters he would do.

Said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.: Its not a surprise or it shouldnt be a surprise to anybody.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has praised the president for using executive action to essentially implement legislation she and other Midlands lawmakers sponsored known as Sarahs law. That measure would require immigration officials to hold onto individuals in the country illegally if they are accused of crimes resulting in death or serious injury.

Theres a number of things that youll see the American people are behind, and thats what were trying to promote, Ernst said.

Simply comparing the numbers of executive orders between administrations can be misleading, because those orders can range from relatively minor matters to sweeping initiatives on hot-button topics. And some executive actions arent officially orders but rather are classified as memoranda.

A number of Trumps executive orders have gone beyond merely reversing the actions of his predecessors orders something that often happens when the White House changes hands.

When Trump set out his administrations approach to immigration enforcement, he also penned language cracking down on sanctuary jurisdictions by withholding their federal funds.

Court challenges to that move are expected.

Trump also signed an order calling for expedited approval of pipelines such as the controversial Keystone XL, which Obama had rejected.

Given support for the project in Congress, Trump likely could have waited for bipartisan legislation. Instead, he did it on his own and also made clear his additional condition that the project should use materials made in the United States.

Midlands lawmakers said they plan to keep an eye on Trumps actions. But so far, they seem satisfied that he is coloring inside the lines with his orders.

Its been appropriate, the use that hes had of them so far, Fischer said. Am I watching it? Yeah, Im watching it. I am a proponent of co-equal branches of government, so Im watching it.

Fischer and her GOP colleagues were less happy with Obamas executive actions.

Its the presidents responsibility to abide by the Constitution he swore to protect and defend that means faithfully executing our nations laws, Fischer once said of Obama. Unfortunately, what the American people have seen from this administration is an unprecedented level of government overreach and too many efforts to work around Congress through executive orders.

On gun control, Ernst previously said she opposed Obamas overreaching and unilateral actions and stressed that the American people must have a voice through their elected representatives in Congress.

Former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., said the process of consolidating power in the executive branch has been going on for years.

While Kerrey backed Obama for president, he said he was unhappy with Obamas use of unilateral action when he couldnt get a measure through Congress. Kerrey said he hopes Republicans will stand up to Trump if he does the same.

Kerrey said Trumps action imposing a hiring freeze is well within the presidents purview. But other actions that Trump has taken go too far, Kerrey said, and Congress risks making itself less and less relevant if it doesnt speak up.

When the president starts to write law which he did with that Keystone executive order Congress needs to object, Kerrey said, because otherwise they might as well just go home.

The legislative process is messy and slow by design, Kerrey said, and its accountable to the people.

I dont know how they could have criticized President Obama for being an imperial president and that was the language they used and not do the same now, he said.

One Senate observer, Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report, suggested Republicans on Capitol Hill might look to judges as a check on Trump rather than fight him directly.

I think congressional Republicans, particularly the leadership, are picking their battles. And the executive orders probably arent among them if there is a good chance that the courts will overturn them or at least stay them, Duffy said.

If courts do rule against some of Trumps orders, she said, then congressional Republicans will have proven the point about presidential overreach under two presidents.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., was among those Republicans outspoken in criticizing Obamas actions, and hes also speaking against unilateralism by a Republican president.

Sasse opposed Trump in the campaign, and after the November election he penned an essay about the importance of standing up to the executive branch.

Im hopeful that my Democratic colleagues who swallowed their whistles while President Obama expanded the powers of the executive and ran roughshod many times over the Constitution will learn this lesson, he wrote. And Im equally hopeful that my GOP colleagues who rightly decried President Obamas use of unilateral executive power will be equally quick to challenge executive overreach even when its done by a Republican.

In an interview, Sasse noted that there is a difference between questioning whether an executive action is prudent or constitutional.

An example of questioning whether a policy is prudent, Sasse said, would be his criticism of Trumps travel ban on the basis that it was too broad. Sasse said he is sympathetic to the administrations goal of bolstering the vetting process from countries that have significant terrorist activity, but said hes also worried that a broad, clunky approach risks hurting long-term strategy by signaling that the United States is in conflict with all Muslims.

So far, Sasse said, he has no specific objections to Trumps orders on the basis of legality. But he stressed that he and his aides are still studying them to see if they stretch executive power too far.

He recently joined the Senate Judiciary Committee and holds a gavel of an oversight subcommittee of that panel. He said he would use that power to keep an eye on the administration.

People need to be able to ask hard questions of people that are wearing the same party label, he said.

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Nebraska, Iowa congressional Republicans think Trump's executive orders have been legal so far - Omaha World-Herald