As with most things, when it is reported that “Obama” did, initiated, or decided anything — what’s really meant is that the shadowy cabal which snuck him into the Oval Office did, initiated, or decided it.
The tier-2 DS'ers probably felt they should tell Obummer to get him in the loop, even in a drugged-up, Reggied-up stupor, and even if he only nodded "got it," they knew they could then hang him--just like this case--as the culpable one, even though anyone with a brain would know Barry doesn't have the mental horsepower for any intricacy beyond, "Go ahead and do it."