I am wondering if you have a users permission to publish_stream and you want to publish_action from now on does publish_stream cover both or do we need to re-request the use
publish_stream and publish_actions are two separate permissions. publish_stream does not include publish_actions.
To publish actions to the open graph, you will need to get this new permission for new users and for existing users.
You can check the permissions a user has granted your app by GETing /me/permissions from the Graph API.
In the latest version of the permissions dialog, users will have the option to NOT grant publish_stream - its always an optional permission. If the app requests publish_actions, this permission is considered required.
Once Timeline has launched beyond Developer Beta, you should not need to ask for publish_stream. If you want to publish a feed story, use the Feed Dialog.