A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday granted a preliminary injunction [opinion, PDF] to the Commonwealth of Virginia, saying the state does not have to uphold President Donald Trump’s executive order [text] restricting immigration. The judge walked through Trump’s public statements on a potential “Muslim ban” and said the evidence presented by Virginia was sufficient to stop enforcement of the order. Granting a preliminary injunction also means that the court believes Virginia is likely, though not certain, to win the case. Trump argued that his action was supported by federal law [text], which grants authority to the president to “suspend the entry of any aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants.” The court responded that while a congressional grant of authority gives the president “maximum power,” that “does not mean absolute power. Every presidential action must still comply with the .. constraints of the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.”

Trump’s executive order has faced numerous legal challenges across the country. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] last Thursday upheld [JURIST report] a district court decision to block enforcement of the executive order nationwide. The Ninth Circuit said that Trump did “not show[] a likelihood of success” on the constitutional questions involved. The district court for the Eastern District of Virginia responded immediately to the executive order, issuing a temporary restraining order [text] against its enforcement the day after it was signed.