The executive branch
executive action
An umbrella phrase for anything a President does without new legislation: orders, memoranda, proclamations, enforcement priorities, and agency guidance.
In full
The phrase has no legal definition, which is exactly why it is worth knowing. It covers instruments with very different force: an executive order directs agencies and is published, a memorandum may not be, a proclamation is often ceremonial, and an enforcement-priority change may be nothing more than internal instruction. What all of them share is that a later President can reverse them without asking anyone.
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Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.