Obama's Order

The NYTimes reports today that President Obama said:

We’ve also ordered BP to pay economic injury claims, and we will make sure they pay every single dime owed to the people along the Gulf Coast.

Is it impertinent to ask whether President Obama has the authority to order BP "to pay economic injury claims"? Is it possible that only the judiciary has the authority to issue such an order? (I will have to brush up on Constitutional Law. [Didn't President Obama claim that he taught Constitutional Law at Chicago?])

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The dynamic evidence page

It's here: the law of evidence on Spindle Law. See also this post and this post.