WASHINGTON, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that district judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions against the Trump administration's executive order to effectively end birthright citizenship.

In a 6-3 vote along ideological line, Supreme Court justices granted a request by the Trump administration to narrow the scope of nationwide injunctions imposed by district judges.

"Federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch," Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority, noting that "When a court concludes that the executive branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too."

However, the three liberal justices issued dissents to the decision.

"Children born in the United States and subject to its laws are United States citizens," Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, adding "that has been the legal rule since the founding."

"The gamesmanship in this request is apparent and the Government makes no attempt to hide it," she noted. "The majority ignores entirely whether the President's Executive Order is constitutional, instead focusing only on the question whether federal courts have the equitable authority to issue universal injunctions."

U.S. President Donald Trump signed the order hours after taking office on Jan. 20. It directed federal agencies to halt recognition of citizenship for children born after Feb. 19, if neither parent is a U.S. citizen nor a permanent resident.

Over 20 states and civil rights groups immediately filed lawsuits challenging the order, calling it blatantly "unconstitutional."

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." Trump's executive order argued that the 14th Amendment "has always" excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

Federal judges in the states of Washington, Maryland and Massachusetts issued nationwide injunctions halting implementation of Trump's executive order. Enditem