The Trump administration on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to step in and block a lower court ruling that found his deployment of troops to Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act.

The case will go to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is deeply liberal by reputation but sided with President Trump on a previous case involving the troop deployment.

This new appeal involves a ruling Tuesday by Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinton appointee, who said Mr. Trump was using troops to conduct basic law enforcement, which he said violated the 1878 law.

The Posse Comitatus Act, passed after the end of post-Civil War Reconstruction, severely limited the use of the Army for what was traditionally thought of as civilian law enforcement.

“Defendants knew that they were ordering troops to execute domestic law beyond their usual authority,” Judge Breyer wrote. “Whether they believed that some constitutional or other exception applied does not matter; ’ignorance of the law is no excuse.’”

Mr. Trump deployed the troops in early June after mobs began to riot in pockets of the city, objecting to a new surge of immigration arrests. The troops defended government property and went out as force protection for immigration officers attempting to make arrests.

Some 300 National Guard troops remain deployed in Los Angeles.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.