For reasons I have outlined often in Facebook, I see the marriage issue as being far more complex than people have been willing to admit. Obama does not have the authority - moral or legal - to change the law.
In the United States, the President (somewhat analogous to the Government or the cabinet in Ireland) may propose laws for the congress (similar to the oireachtas) and has the authority to unilaterally veto laws passed by congress (I don't think that Ireland has an indivdual with that authority).
The congress *can* pass a law that is vetoed by the President, but such an override requires a 2/3 majority vote in both houses (senead and dail).
The judicial branch (again, similar to but different from the Supreme Court in Ireland) rules whether laws are constitutional.
Obama's power in the matter of gay marrige is currently limited to proposing new laws or amendments to the US Constitution and keeping the issue in the national spotlight. If congress were to amend the consitution, or if the United States Supreme Court were to rule that gay marriage was a constitutionally-protected civil right, Obama would then have the authority to send in federal agents and would have the authority to deploy combat units of the National Guard to enforce the law.
US National Guard troops were deployed in the United States to enforce civil rights laws in the 1960's. Some states - like Utah, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, Utah, and Virginia - might be willing to use their own National Guard troops to resist.
The idea of using F-15s and Abrams tanks on US citizens on US soil so that a couple of gay guys can walk hand-in-hand down the the Main Street of A$$hole, Nebraska, as well as the streets of Provincetown, Massachusetts, seems pretty stupid to me.
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