Trump demands an end to 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals thwarting his border policies

Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

President Donald Trump warned Thursday that someone – a group of judges or Congress – must step in to stop what he called "horrible decisions" by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that blocked several of his border and immigration orders.

"We get a lot of bad court decisions from the 9th Circuit, which has become a big thorn in our side," Trump said during a televised teleconference with members of the military. "It's a terrible thing when judges take over your protective services, when they tell you how to protect your border. It's a disgrace."

His remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, followed a ruling Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar – who is not an appeals court judge – that halted the administration's attempts to bar immigrants who enter the country illegally from applying for asylum.

“Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” Tigar wrote in his 37-page ruling.

More: Trump again warns he may shut down southern border

The judge's order is in effect only until Dec. 19, when he is scheduled to hear arguments about whether it should remain permanent.

Any appeal to the ruling would be filed in the 9th Circuit, which is based in San Francisco and has appellate jurisdiction over district courts in the West, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Washington state.

Trump doubled-down on his complaints despite a rare rebuke Wednesday by Supreme Court Justice John Roberts who said there are no "Obama judges" or "Trump judges" but “an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”

Trump charged that judges on the 9th Circuit make the country, and border, unsafe.

He tweeted that judges must not legislate about "Safety at the Border, or anywhere else."

"They know nothing about it and are making our Country unsafe," he tweeted. "Our great Law Enforcement professionals MUST BE ALLOWED TO DO THEIR JOB! If not there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death. We want the Constitution as written!"

He railed against the appeals court in phone conversations with members of the military overseas.

More: Federal judge blocks Trump's new asylum rules: 'He may not rewrite the immigration laws'

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Trump warned that the rulings that defy his orders have to end.

"I think we are going to have to stop that somehow, judges are going to have to get together, or Congress is going to have to get together and stop it," he said.

He said people challenging his orders "are taking advantage of our country" by filing their lawsuits in the 9th Circuit.