Vice President Joe Biden has noted that President Barack Obama could potentially use his presidential powers to bypass Congress and implement more strict gun control laws.

“The president is going to act.There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven’t decided what that is yet, but we’re compiling it all,” said Biden.

Executive orders have the full force of law, and are directly issued by a President, independent of Congress.

Use of them, however, is highly controversial, as it bypasses the legislative branch of government, and many believe executive orders to be unconstitutional.

If Obama were to implement executive orders on gun control, he would face severe backlash from most Republicans and some Democrats.

Obama said the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 27 dead, including 20 children, had “touched the heart of the American people so profoundly” and “requires immediate, urgent action.”

Eric Holder, the attorney general, sat at the table with Biden, alongside representatives of gun control groups such as the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, survivors of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre shooting and the stepfather of a victim in last summer’s Aurora, Colorado mass shooting.

“I want to make clear that we’re not going to get caught up in the notion that, unless we can do everything, we’re going to do nothing,” Biden said. “It’s critically important we act.”

On Thursday, Biden will meet gun ownership organizations – including the National Rifle Association – and sportsmen who use guns recreationally.

Is it unconstitutional if Obama bypasses Congress to implement new gun control laws?

James Gilbert | Elite.