President Donald Trump slammed a federal judge's decision in Hawaii that put his second travel ban on hold — calling it "unprecedented judicial overreach" that "makes us look weak."
"We are going to fight this terrible ruling," Trump told supporters Wednesday night at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. "We are going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court.
"We are going to win.
"We are going to keep our citizens safe — and, regardless, we are going to keep our citizens safe."
U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii put the revised ban on hold hours before it was scheduled to take effect after hearing arguments Trump's order discriminated based on nationality.
The new ban, issued March 6, was challenged by more than a half-dozen states. Hawaii had requested a temporary restraining order.
The state also argued the order would prevent residents from receiving visits from relatives in the six countries covered by the directive.
Hawaii said the ban would harm its tourism industry and the ability to recruit foreign students and workers.
The new ban applied only to new visas from Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen and temporarily shut down the U.S. refugee program. It did not apply to travelers who already had visas.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle refused to reinstate the original ban, issued Jan. 27, and did not rule on whether that order discriminated against Muslims.
"The order he blocked was a watered-down version of the first order that was also blocked by another judge — and should have never been blocked to start with," Trump said in Nashville.
"This new order was tailored to the dictates of the Ninth Circuit's — in my opinion — flawed ruling.
"We have to go back to the first one and go all the way, which is what I wanted to do in the first one," Trump said.
The crowd roared.
President Trump quoted the statute allowing him to impose such travel restrictions for national security reasons, saying "it was put here for the security of our country.
"This goes beyond me because there will be other presidents and we need this," he added. "We need this very badly for security, the security of our country.
"We are talking about the safety of our nation, the safety and security of our people.
"The danger is clear," President Trump said. "The law is clear. The need for my executive order is clear.
"I was elected to change our broken and dangerous system and thinking and government that has weakened and endangered our country and left our people defenseless.
"I will not stop fighting for the safety of you and your families," he added. "Not today, not ever.
"We are going to win at the Supreme Court. We are going to win it."
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