Obama declares 2014 as year of action

He said he would continue to use his executive authority - his pen and phone - to get things done

US President Barack Obama has declared 2014 as a year of action to accomplish his key administrative goals and said he would continue to use his executive authority - his pen and phone - to get things done.

"This has to be a year of action," Obama said at an event in North Carolina yesterday.

"The President has declared 2014 a year of action, and while he will continue to use his executive authority - his pen and phone - to get things done, he will also work with Congress to make progress on behalf of the American people," the White House said after Obama's meeting with Senators.

He reiterated the line at a White House event later in the day and also during a meeting with members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

During the meeting, Obama and Senators discussed their shared goals for 2014, to continue to advance a number of priorities for the year to strengthen our economy, create jobs and build the middle-class.

"I think the point that the President has been making and others have made on his behalf is that in many ways the American economy, as it has emerged from the recovery, has grown steadily and created 8.2 million jobs, is on a precipice of even greater strides forward," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

"We want to do everything we can, using our authorities, the President's authorities to take action through the executive and through the power of the pen and the power of the phone, as well as take action through and with Congress legislatively on immigration reform and so many other issues that we can work together on," he said.

Carney said there are a lot of positive things that can happen and are happening on behalf of the economy and the middle class and the American people.

"We just need to keep moving forward. So the President is going to talk a lot about, in the days ahead and in the State of the Union address, ways that we can use all the tools available to us to grow the economy and create jobs that middle-class families can depend on," he said.

Noting that Obama throughout his time in office has utilised the tools available to him, Carney said this year the White House is going to reinvigorate that process.