An executive order is an instruction from the president which has the weight of the law behind it. But Trump's order does not overturn the ban. Instead it tells the US attorney general not to enforce the law for now - something experts had expected would be his first move.

Trump is drafting a new blueprint for the presidency, one that demonstrates the primacy of blunt force in a democratic system predicated on checks and balances between the branches of government.

The White House on Wednesday summarized U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping crackdown this week at the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump took office on Monday and issued a raft of executive orders that aim to clamp down on illegal immigration and advance his goal of deporting millions of immigrants who are in the U.

Trump, who said he would not be a dictator “except for Day 1” of his presidency, signed a record number of executive orders on Monday.