Under federal immigration law the president is permitted to suspend or impose conditions on the entry of ”any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States” on a finding that it “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.” (my emphasis)
This, however, would not be good enough for Donald Trump. He claims that “[t]he immigration laws of the United States give the president powers to suspend entry into the country of any class of persons.” (my emphasis)
Notice how, in his view of executive power, he substitutes “aliens” with “persons.” That is, he claims the power to deny or abridge the rights of entry of anyone — even a U.S. citizen and national — into the United States because he finds them to be “detrimental” — itself a standardless and undefined term.
There is no shortage of examples of the contempt that Trump has for the rule of law, and of the existential threat to freedom and liberty that he poses. This is just the most recent and damning one.