I don't know how involved in the daily stuff the President is. He strikes me as a micromanager and considering that its clear his chief of staff was involved, I suspect he ordered it.
Now, its possible that he did not order it, but knew about it, part of his daily briefings... hey boss look at what I am not doing with the Benghazi thing, that President will regret not endorsing you!
Finally, I think its unlikely but possible that the Pres. did not know, but clearly he built a team and fostered an administrative staff that felt this was an okay thing to do. They may not have told the President, but did it because he made it clear this was the type of thing he wanted them to do.