White House 'Confident' About Legitimacy of Trump’s Entry Ban, VP Pence Says

The US presidential administration is “confident” about the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s temporary immigration ban as the executive order complies with both the US Constitution as well as with the local statutory law, US Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview with the NBC News broadcaster.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier on Sunday, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied the government's appeal to overturn the federal judge's decision to suspend the execution of Trump's executive order on immigration.

“We are very confident that the president is operating within his authority as president, both under the Constitution, and under the clear statutory law,” Pence told the broadcaster, referring to the Trump’s immigration ban.

The order on immigration was not arranged ‘hastily’ and the administration is confident that the Trump's decree will prevail, Pence stressed in an interview.

On Friday night, US District Judge James Robart in Seattle ordered a temporary nationwide halt to the entry ban, siding with the states of Washington and Minnesota that challenged the federal government over the immigration policy they considered discriminatory, and thus unconstitutional.

The executive order, titled "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States," was signed by Trump on January 27. The document suspended entry to the country for all nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days, barred all refugees from entry for 120 days and blocked all Syrian refugees from entering the United States for a yet undetermined period of time.

The move has resulted in mass protests across America, forcing thousands of people to take to the streets.