By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS FEB. 8, 2017 

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at the judicial branch for considering challenges to his executive order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, asserting that politically motivated judges had held a “disgraceful” federal appeals court hearing Tuesday on the matter.  CLICK IMAGE for link to video. CLICK HERE for link to story.

“I don’t ever want to call a court biased, so I won’t call it biased,” Mr. Trump told a gathering of sheriffs and police chiefs in Washington. “But courts seem to be so political, and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what’s right.”

Mr. Trump, who opened his remarks reciting the passage of the United States code that gives the president the power to restrict immigration whenever he deems the influx of foreigners detrimental to the country, said he had watched “in amazement” Tuesday night as a three-judge federal appeals panel heard arguments on his executive order and the limits of presidential power in cases of national security.

“I listened to a bunch of stuff last night on television that was disgraceful,” Mr. Trump said. “I think it’s sad. I think it’s a sad day. I think our security is at risk today.”

His comments came the morning after a lively, roughly hourlong hearing – the audio of which was carried live on national television – during which three judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit expressed skepticism about the arguments of a Justice Department lawyer defending Mr. Trump’s order.

A federal judge in Seattle blocked the travel ban on Friday, and the appeals court is considering whether to uphold that action. The panel said Tuesday that it would rule as soon as possible. Mr. Trump on Wednesday appeared incensed about the challenge, saying, “It’s really incredible to me that we have a court case that is going on so long.”

At one point during Tuesday’s arguments, August E. Flentje, the Justice Department lawyer, appeared to acknowledge he was making little headway with the judges, commenting, “I’m not sure I’m convincing the court.”

Mr. Trump took aim at one of the judges without specifying which one, saying, “I will not comment on the statements made by, certainly one judge.” The panel was made up of Judge William C. Canby Jr., appointed by Jimmy Carter; Judge Richard R. Clifton, named by George W. Bush; and Michelle T. Friedland, nominated by Barack Obama.

“If these judges wanted to, in my opinion, help the court in terms of respect for the court, they’d do what they should be doing,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s so sad.”

By contrast, he lavished praise on a federal judge in Boston who last week ruled that the travel ban could stay in place. “Right on — they were perfect,” Mr. Trump said of that judge’s comments.

Mr. Trump defended the process that yielded the executive order, saying he had initially wanted to wait a week or even a month before issuing the travel ban. But the president said he was told by law enforcement officials that doing so would prompt a flood of people, including some with “very evil intentions,” to rush into the United States before the restrictions took effect.

“We do things well; we did things right,” Mr. Trump said. “I suggested a month, then I said, ‘Well, what about a week?’ They said no, you can’t do that because then people are going to pour in before the toughness goes on.”

That account appears to be at odds with the one given by several senior officials, who have said they were not fully briefed on the details of Mr. Trump’s order until the day the president signed it at the Pentagon.

The president told the law enforcement officers that he was acting solely out of a concern about terrorism, a threat he said had deepened since he took office and gained access to information about the risks facing Americans.

“Believe me; I’ve learned a lot in the last two weeks, and terrorism is a far greater threat than the people of our country understand,” Mr. Trump said. “But we’re going to take care of it. We’re going to win.”