The result, aides said, will be a curtailing of the frequent, secret drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen that have marked much of Obama’s presidency. At the same time, Obama reserved the right to order covert lethal action anywhere the administration finds a threat from Al Qaeda.Obama didn’t spell out exactly why he was throttling back on drones, a program he inherited from President George W. Bush and then dramatically expanded.
They've been gearing up to this for a while. Found an older NY Times story I didn't open Election Spurred a Move to Codify U.S. Drone Policy - The New York ... with accompanying excerpt;
Nov 24, 2012 – But with more than 300 drone strikes and some 2,500 people killed by the ... first took office, the administration is still pushing to make the rules formal and ... The attempt to write a formal rule book for targeted killing began last summer ... won, will now be finished at a more leisurely pace, the official said.
:) If I find anything on this I will pm you all.