President Obama, in light of an unresolved congressional debate about cyber security policy, unveiled an executive order pertaining that directs federal agencies to revisit their statutory authority in search of legal justifications to implement new regulations, rather than laws..

“[E]arlier today, I signed a new executive order that will strengthen our cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing standards to protect our national security, our jobs, and our privacy,” Obama said in his prepared speech. “Now, Congress must act as well, by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks.”