Members of a Syrian refugee family pose for a picture at Beirut international airport ahead of their travel to the United States, Lebanon February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican President Donald Trump defended his immigration executive order on Wednesday as necessary for the nation’s security in a speech to law enforcement officers in which he criticized U.S. courts as being political.

“I don’t ever want to call a court biased, so I won’t call it biased,” Trump said. “And we haven’t had a decision yet. But courts seem to be so political, and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read the statement and do what’s right. And that has to do with the security of our country.”