Washington: An US appeals court that questioned whether President Donald Trump's travel ban discriminates against Muslims, witnessed steep grilling of lawyers by a federal judges bench, a media report said on Wednesday. As the appeals court on Tuesday night sought to determine whether to lift the nationwide halt against it, lawyers from the Justice Department and Washington state came under heavy firing from the bench, CNN reported.

The hearing conducted by telephone contained moments of high drama as one of Trump's signature policies against refugees and visitors from seven mainly Muslim countries, was challenged by two states and numerous advocacy groups. The Trump administration argued the courts have improperly inserted itself into the national security sphere.