[Your Senator or Representative s Name] [Street Address Here] [Washington, DC] [Zipcode] Dear [Member of Congress]: I m writing today

to express my concern about the number of executive orders issu ed by President Barack Obama. Let me state first that I oppose executive orders by any President of either party because I believe that executive orders place t oo much power in the hands of the executive branch at the expense of Congress an d because I believe they undermine the Constitution.. It is especially troubling to see President Obama so freely use the executive o rder because as a Senator he often criticized President George W. Bush for issui ng executive orders. It seems as though this President feels that his authority is somehow greater than the authority he would allow other Presidents to have an d that is extremely troubling. I firmly believe that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and our f ounders spent a great deal of time crafting a document that clearly defined the powers of each branch of government. They were very careful to make sure that no one branch gathered an extreme amount of power at the expense of others. I sinc erely hope that as a member of Congress it troubles you to see any President tak e it upon himself to basically make law with the stroke of a pen without allowin g Congress to have a say. When I witness a President issue executive orders without consulting Congress o n important and then watch members of both parties stand by and say nothing I am fearful for the future of our nation. Recently, both House minority leaders Nan cy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid along with many of their Democra tic colleagues wrote a letter to President Obama encouraging him and even urging him to use his executive power to raise the debt limit. It was shocking to see these Congressional leaders give their power away so easily. Our founders would be saddened at terrified at this action. The most frightening action by this President vis--vis executive orders and the action that spurred me to write this letter was the recent issuance of over 20 e xecutive orders regarding gun control. No matter your opinion of gun control and the Second Amendment, the fact remains that gun rights are a God given right en shrined in our Constitution. Any action concerning guns and the limits of the Se cond Amendment is a matter for the American people and the members of Congress w ho represent them. When the President sits at a desk and signs an executive orde r that puts actions in motion that affect the lives of every American, he has ci rcumvented the important representative process that is enshrined in our Constit ution and that has worked for over 230 years. I hope you will consider my arguments carefully and stand against the abuse of executive orders. I hope you will stand for the Constitution and the American pe ople and not for any particular party and its power. Thank You, [Your Signature] [Your Name] [Your City & State}