The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that President Donald Trump has the legal authority to suspend refugee resettlement to the United States.

In its decision, the appellate panel vacated a lower court injunction that had blocked the Trump administration’s executive order halting the refugee resettlement program. The judges concluded that Congress grants the president broad authority over immigration matters.

Specifically, the court found that challengers failed to demonstrate that the executive order exceeded presidential authority under federal immigration law, including provisions contained in the Refugee Act and related statutes.

The panel wrote that the plaintiffs did not make a strong showing that they were likely to succeed in arguing that the order violated the president’s statutory powers.

The judges also rejected arguments from the lower court suggesting that the order improperly shut down the U.S. refugee program entirely or indefinitely. According to the ruling, nothing in the Refugee Act requires the president to continue processing refugee applications while admissions into the country are suspended.

The case, Pacito v. Trump, centered on Executive Order 14163, which halted both the admission of approved refugees and the processing of new refugee applications.

Immigration policy advocates supporting the administration praised the decision. Dale Wilcox of the Federation for American Immigration Reform said the ruling reaffirmed the president’s authority to control refugee admissions as a matter of policy.

“We don’t have to take any refugees, and whether we do so is a matter of policy, not law,” Wilcox said. “The law allows the president to block their entry if he determines it is necessary.”

The decision represents a significant legal victory for the Trump administration’s immigration policy and reinforces the broad executive powers historically granted to presidents when regulating entry into the United States.