A U.S. court denied early Sunday a request by the government to overturn a ruling that has suspended a controversial travel ban targeting refugees and nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries.

Consisting of three judges, the motions panel of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, Northern California, made the move hours after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an appeal with the court, arguing that President Donald Trump has constitutional authority to limit entry of foreign nationals.

More than 24 hours earlier, Judge James Robart of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled in favor of the state attorneys general of Washington and Minnesota on a lawsuit to block the executive order by Trump to temporarily ban citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the country.

The order, signed on Jan. 27, a week after Trump's inauguration, has been the most controversial among his dozens of executive orders so far and has prompted wide-spread protests across the United States.

In delivering his temporary ruling Friday, Judge Robart, appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2004, said, "The state (of Washington) has met its burden in demonstrating immediate and irreparable injury" by the executive order.

"Judge Robart's decision, effective immediately, effective now, puts a halt to President Trump's unconstitutional and unlawful executive order. It puts a stop to it immediately, nationwide," Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson told a group of reporters Friday. "What the judge announced today was nationwide; the president's executive order does not apply."

Trump, however, posted several messages Saturday on Twitter to defend his position and criticize Judge Robart and his ruling.