Story highlights The decision could provide more ammunition in court to challengers of the executive order

The new executive order was slated for a mid-week release

(CNN) Critics are seizing on the Trump administration's decision to delay the issuance of a revised travel ban, saying it undermines the ban's national security rationale.

The decision also could provide more ammunition in court to challengers of the executive order.

The new executive order was slated for a mid-week release, but a senior administration official told CNN after Trump's speech to a joint address of Congress that the timeline was being pushed back in order to keep the spotlight on the positive reaction to his address.

"We want the (executive order) to have its own 'moment,'" the official said.

The open admission that the ban -- which the administration has pitched as an emergency imperative -- angered and emboldened opponents on Capitol Hill and at the American Civil Liberties Union.

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