US Supreme Court divided over judges' power in citizenship case
US President Donald Trump took his bid to end birthright citizenship to the US Supreme Court on Thursday, in a case that could help further his agenda on immigration and other issues.
The case asks whether lower court judges should be able to block presidential orders for the entire country - as they have done in this case. The justices did not appear to reach a consensus as they considered both sides.
The US solicitor general argued that lower courts overstepped their authority, saying this power should be curtailed.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey solicitor general - arguing on behalf of a group of states - said siding with Trump would create a patchwork system of citizenship.
This would create "chaos on the ground", argued the lawyer, Jeremy Feigenbaum.
It is not clear when the court will issue its decision. If it agrees with Trump, then he could continue his wide-ranging use of executive orders to make good on campaign promises without having to wait for congressional approval - with limited checks by the courts.
Justices across the ideological spectrum seemed to grapple with two issues during Thursday's two-hour hearing.
There was questioning of lower courts' power to block a presidential order nationwide. And the justices also considered the merits of the birthright citizenship order itself - which critics argue violates the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and Supreme Court precedent.
US Solicitor General D John Sauer, arguing on behalf of the Trump istration, said lower judges did not have the right to put time-consuming legal obstacles in front of the Trump istration's agenda.
He argued the current system "required judges to make rushed, high-stakes, low-information decisions".
Sauer proposed class-action lawsuits - which allow large numbers of plaintiffs to sue together - as one potential alternative. However, justices and Sauer's opponents noted that this process was time-consuming and did not provide relief in emergency circumstances.
The justices grilled Sauer for over an hour, with liberal Justice Elena Kagan noting that the istration had lost on the birthright citizenship issue in every lower court. "Why would you ever take this case to us":[]}