“This ruling does not affect the merits at all,” Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News. | Getty Conway: Administration 'fully confident' they will win ban lawsuit

Kellyanne Conway said Thursday night the administration is “fully confident” they will eventually prevail in the lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s travel ban executive order.

“This ruling does not affect the merits at all,” Conway, counselor to the president, said on Fox News. “It is an interim ruling, and we are fully confident that now that we will get our day in court and have an opportunity to argue this on the merits that we will prevail.”


Earlier on Thursday evening, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the Justice Department’s request to lift a Seattle-based judge’s restraining order that blocked authorities from implementing Trump’s executive order.

Conway added it is Trump’s “duty and responsibility” to protect the country, saying he believes he has the constitutional authority to ban travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.

There are a number of different options moving forward, Conway said, and the president will be conferring with his lawyers to make a decision.