SAN FRANCISCO — A little more than 20 minutes into arguments at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Monday, Circuit Judge Ronald Gould cut to the chase.

“The executive order sets out national security justifications,” Gould said during the hearing on President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting travel from six predominantly Muslim countries. “But how is a court to know if in fact it’s a Muslim ban in the guise of national security justification?”