Playing cards and doing actions in the middle of paying for intent

While paying for an action, can you play ability cards during the middle of an action? For example, could I pay for red intent, play a card that lets me draw 4 cards, and then keep paying for red intent With the new cards? Or do I have to pay for it all at once before I do anything else? Also, does the lightning bolt symbol affect this? Maybe I can use a card with lightning bolt in the middle of paying but not normal cards?