Appeals court to hear arguments on Trump's travel ban

A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments on Tuesday on the justice department's request to overturn a broad block on President Donald Trump's executive order which puts a temporary travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals announced that a three-judge panel will hold an hour-long telephone argument session starting at 6pm ET (12:00am CET).

The arguments were scheduled just as the Trump administration filed a new brief arguing that national security concerns make it improper for the courts to intrude on executive branch decisions about which foreigners should be denied entry to the US.

The new filing warns the courts against taking "the extraordinary step of second-guessing a formal national-security judgment made by the President himself pursuant to broad grants of statutory authority," the new government filing said.

"The potential national-security risks and harms resulting from the compelled application of procedures that the President has determined must be re-examined, for the purpose of ensuring an adequate measure of protection for the Nation, cannot be undone. Nor can the effect on our constitutional separation of powers," the justice department argued.

Last Friday, US district judge James Robart suspended Trump's ban, prompting the President to publish outraged tweets on the issue over the weekend. 

In a tweet on Monday night, Trump said: "The threat from radical Islamic terrorism is very real, just look at what is happening in Europe and the Middle-East. Courts must act fast!"

The threat from radical Islamic terrorism is very real, just look at what is happening in Europe and the Middle-East. Courts must act fast!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2017

Trump has said the travel measures are designed to protect the country against the threat of terrorism. He has derided Robart, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, as a "so-called judge."

Opponents say the 90-day ban barring entry for citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and imposing a 120-day halt to all refugees, is illegal. The state of Washington argues it has suffered harm, saying some students and faculty at state universities had been stranded overseas because of the ban.