No, from Bush 2 onwards the power of the executive office has expanded greatly. Obama used executive power quite liberally, for example the Deferred Action for

No, from Bush 2 onwards the power of the executive office has expanded greatly. Obama used executive power quite liberally, for example the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), opening up stem cell research, defining large national parks, increasing federal contractor minimum wages. Whether EOs are a good thing or a bad thing generally depends on whether you support the president that issued them. In the face of an obstructionist congress, I supported Obama's EOs, but the problem with them is that they are much more fragile, as they can be more easily reversed by the next administration.