All three members of Vermont's congressional delegation strongly support a federal court ruling that rejects President Trump's attempt to reinstate a travel ban from seven predominately Muslim counties.
Lawyers for the Trump Administration maintained that the judicial branch of government doesn't have the authority to review the president's national security policies.
But, in a unanimous ruling handed down Thursday night, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.
"There is no precedent to support this claimed unreviewability, which runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy," the court said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he hopes the decision will "teach the President a lesson” in American history.
“The telling of this president who does not understand our Constitution, does not understand separation of powers, that the president cannot do everything and anything he wants if it is against the law — I think he learned a lesson about that,” Sanders said.
Sen. Patrick Leahy says the decision makes it very clear that "no one is above the law," including the president.
"And we have a constitutional form of government. We balance that," Leahy said. "We make sure that there are checks and balances, and the courts are independent."
And Congressman Peter Welch said the court's ruling makes an important statement about the balance of power in this country.
"The assertion by the president, explicitly made in the arguments, was, 'Look, I'm the president and I get to decide, and you have no right to review.' And that is totally in conflict with the entire history of our country," Welch said.
All three members of the delegation say they expect the case to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
