Bernie Sanders is reportedly considering dozens of executive orders to go around Congress on healthcare, immigration and the environment

• Sen. Bernie Sanders is weighing dozens of executive actions to circumvent Congress and achieve changes on healthcare, immigration, and the environment, should he win the November presidential election.
• Over a dozen alone would roll back current President Trump's immigration initiatives.
• Progressives are starting to clamor for immediate government action on urgent priorities like combating climate change and offering student debt relief.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders is reportedly considering dozens of executive actions aimed at circumventing Congress to achieve key parts of his progressive agenda on immigration, healthcare, and the environment.

The Washington Post reported on the plans Thursday after it reviewed an internal document that the Sanders presidential campaign team had crafted.

Over a dozen executive orders alone would deal with reversing President Trump's immigration policies, including lifting strict caps on the number of refugees allowed to settle in the US and barring further construction on the border wall with Mexico.

Among other proposed actions on immigration, the environment and healthcare, Sanders' team would seek to:

• Reinstate the Obama-era program granting legal status to undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children.
• Compel the Department of Homeland Security to stop ICE raids.
• Legalize marijuana through the Department of Justice.
• Abolish private prisons.
• Declare climate change a national emergency and ban crude oil exports.
• Allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada.

Sanders, however, has not approved any of them, and their scope is still under debate, according to The Post. The internal document was prepared by Faiz Shakir, Sanders' campaign manager, along with senior policy staff.

The report comes as Sanders has surged in national and early state polls ahead of the February 3 Iowa caucus, the first in the contested Democratic presidential primary. And it provides insight into how a Sanders administration would attempt to govern the country if the Vermont senator defeated the president this November.

Sanders rival former Vice President Joe Biden has cast himself as a pragmatic alternative, able to work with Republicans to pass legislative initiatives.

But progressives are starting to clamor for immediate government action to enact sweeping proposals in a period of gridlock, throwing up their hands at the idea of working with the GOP. Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal earlier this month to start wiping out student debt on "day one" of her presidency using executive authority.

Sanders has already put forward several bills anchoring his platform, such as "Medicare for All" and the Green New Deal, which aims to transition the country onto renewable energy sources. Those would need congressional approval.

Many of the proposed orders under review by the Sanders campaign would likely confront fierce opposition from Republicans and moderate Democrats wary of expanding the powers of the executive branch to the detriment of Congress.

President Obama, notably during his second term, turned to executive power to rescue key parts of his agenda repeatedly blocked by Republicans.

At a recent campaign swing through Iowa, a voter asked Sanders whether he was prepared to achieve his goals in the face of bitter partisanship. "We're going to run a different type of presidency," the Vermont senator responded, according to The Post.

And he said he was prepared to take his case across the country, even in ruby-red states.

"It's not just sitting down and arguing with Mitch McConnell," Sanders added, referring to the GOP Senate majority leader. "It is getting people to stand up and fight back."