: : Well, last night I re-read the portions of the SIL concerning Aule, Melkor and other Valar. Unless I am interperting the text entirely wrong, I appears that some,if not all, of the higher Valar had a creative ability that may, or may not,have been limited to specific area. Yavanna, springs to mind. There is no mention of Maia having the ability. So Sauron didn't have it.

: : However, it clearly states that the Valar had to submit their creations to Eru for approval(this explains Aule and the Dwarf Fathers).It also states that Melkor lost his ability to make life, or semblence of life, following his rebellion in the Ainulindale before The Begining.

: The important point is that he had it, so he could create non-living creatures. I think that all the ainur had this ability, but only few used it, or had the power to make its use worth the while.
: 'We're doomed! Sauron has wrought a new breed of ants to bring our empire to it knees!'
: Maedhros

If you mean Sauron, there is no text supporting Maiar having the ability to create living or non-living creatures. The text does say that Melkor had this ability once, but lost it long before orcs, trolls and dragons were made or bred.

Also, Eru had to approve (bless?) the creation, creature,plant etc. If this was not done, the creation would have only the semblence of life, but would not function unless its creator was thinking about the creation. Melkor had also lost the ability to create anything with a semblence of life.