The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upholding a nationwide freeze on Donald Trump's immigration executive order is a powerful rebuff to the administration — and to the president personally.
The court went out of its way in its opinion released Thursday to emphasize the right and the duty of the judiciary to rule on the constitutionality of executive action, even when national security is on the line. The unanimous panel was unwilling to bow to the personal pressure that Trump aimed at it. And, tellingly, the most important recent precedents the court cited were written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote will be crucial if and when the case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The most noteworthy parts of the decision came in response to the government's argument that the president has "unreviewable authority to suspend the admission of any class of aliens." The court rejected this claim outright as not only wrong but also unprecedented. "There is no precedent to support this claimed unreviewability," the court wrote. Moreover, the court said the government's claim "runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy."