During a Tuesday hearing at the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the DOJ urged a three-judge panel to issue an emergency stay of a lower court order and allow the Trump administration’s deployment of the California National Guard to continue in Los Angeles — going so far as to argue a president’s federalization of militia can’t be second-guessed by the courts, even if the chief executive mobilized forces from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., simultaneously.

U.S. Circuit Judges Mark Bennett and Eric Miller, both appointees of President Donald Trump, and Jennifer Sung, an appointee of President Joe Biden, presided over the hearing, which began at noon on the West Coast.