President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered a forceful defense of his temporary travel ban, reciting the law line by line that he says gives him authority to exclude foreigners he deems a national security threat.

Speaking to the National Sheriff’s Association the morning after a federal appeals court in San Francisco heard arguments related to the case, the president read the relevant section of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act. If gives the president the power to exclude any “alien or class of aliens” that he deems detrimental.

“A bad high school student would understand this. Anybody would.”

“A bad high school student would understand this,” he said. “Anybody would.”

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday heard arguments from the Justice Department that a federal judge’s temporary restraining order should be lifted. U.S. District Judge James Robart last week put Trump’s entire executive order on hold nationwide. That includes not just a three-month suspension of travel from seven terrorism-compromised countries but also a four-month pause in the refugee resettlement program.

Trump pointed favorably to a ruling rejecting a request to hold up his executive order issued by a “highly, highly respected judge” in Boston. He contrasted that ruling with the decision made by Robart.

“Right now, we are at risk because of what happened,” he said.

Despite a torrent of negative publicity arising from the controversy, a Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday suggests the travel ban remains popular among the American people. Of 11 executive orders signed by Trump, it registered the highest level of support among registered voters — 55 percent. That was tied with an executive order instructing the Department of Homeland Security to identify federal funds that could be cut to punish co-called “sanctuary” cities and counties.

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Trump said law and order was one of the reasons why he was elected.

“We have to give you the weapons that you need,” he told the sheriffs. “This is a weapon that you need, and they’re trying to take it away from you, maybe because of politics.”

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Trump connected the terrorism threat to the scourge of drugs. He said Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly would stop it.

“We will give him a wall, and it will be a real wall, and a lot of positive things will happen in your cities,” he said.

Trump asked the gathered sheriffs for their help in fighting illegal immigration.

“The federal government can never be that precise,” he said. “But you’re in the neighborhoods. You know the bad ones; you know the good ones. I want you to turn in the bad ones.”

More broadly, Trump reiterated themes he made a centerpiece of his campaign. He praised the bravery of law enforcement officers who risk their lives to protect the public and noted that 2016 was a particularly deadly year for officers.

“They’re entitled to an administration that has their backs,” he said, later adding, “You have a true, true friend in the White House.”

Trump stated that the increase in the murder rate from 2014 to 2015 was the highest in nearly half a century and that the rate continued to climb in 2016 in many major cities. He called it a “public safety crisis” and pointed specifically at Chicago, which experienced more than 4,000 shootings last year.

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“And the rate so far this year has been even higher,” he said. “What is going on in Chicago?”

Trump mentioned another grim statistic: Some 60 percent of murder victims younger than 22 are black.

“This is a national tragedy, and it requires national action,” he said. “This violence must end, and we must all work together to end it.”