The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals put on hold a lower-court ruling on Monday that prevented Trump from taking command of the 200 Oregon National Guard troops, who typically report to the state's governor.

The judges on the panel ruled 2 - 1 that the president was likely to succeed on his claim that he had the authority to federalize the troops based on a determination he was unable to enforce the laws without them.

They cited the violence of protesters in front of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland as a justification for implementing the early 20th century statute that allows the president to take command of the Guard.

The judges noted in their unsigned order that the protesters 'attempted to burn the building down, placed chains on the doors, attempted to breach the front door of the building and broke the front glass door.' 

Protesters also threw 'rocks, sticks and a mortar and launched M80 fireworks at federal officers, assaulted federal officers, shined lasers at officers' eyes and doxed federal officers,' the judges wrote.

Their decision now puts on hold a lower-court ruling that prohibited Trump from calling up the troops so he could send them to Portland.

However, US District Judge Karin Immergut's second order prohibiting Trump from sending any National Guard members to Oregon at all remains in effect, meaning that no troops may immediately be deployed.

But the Trump administration has argued that because the legal reasoning underpinning both temporary restraining orders was the same, the second one was also invalid.

Lawyers for the government noted that the majority opinion on Monday said the two TROs 'rise or fall together,' as they asked Immergut to immediately dissolve her second order.

They argued that it is not the role of the courts to second-guess the president´s determination about when to deploy troops.

'The Ninth Circuit´s decision staying the first TRO is a significant change in law that plainly warrants dissolution of this Court´s second TRO,' the administration's lawyers wrote.

Still, the White House celebrated the ruling, with Trump spokeswoman Abigail Jackson saying the president 'is exercising his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel following violent riots that local leaders have refused to address,' according to the Wall Street Journal.