Glossary
Regulation
A rule issued by a government agency to flesh out the details of a statute. Regulations have the force of law but are made by the executive branch (or independent agencies), not the legislature.
Congress passes a broad statute. The agency in charge of administering that statute writes detailed regulations explaining how to comply. Federal regulations are collected in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). State regulations have their own state-level codes.
Regulations have to be authorized by a statute and can't go beyond what the statute allows. Courts can strike down regulations that exceed the agency's authority or that the agency made without following proper procedures.