In the high-stakes legal showdown between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump over Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, a U.S. government lawyer argued Tuesday that judges have no power to stop a president from deploying such troops.

In a high stakes virtual hearing in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the DOJ argued that Trump lawfully exercised his executive power when he sent soldiers to help protect federal officers and buildings in Los Angeles protests over immigration enforcement.

According to the department, by direction of the Secretary of Defense, the troops were activated in a Title 10 status to support the protection of federal functions, personnel, and property in the LA area.