White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said he had mixed emotions following the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision on birthright citizenship, calling the ruling a significant setback while praising several other recent victories for President Donald Trump before the nation's highest court.

Miller discussed the decision during an interview with Jesse Watters, who asked for his reaction after the ruling was released.

“Stephen Miller, so, Stephen, how did you feel when you saw the decision come down?” Watters asked.

Miller said his response was shaped by two competing thoughts.

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“Well, I had two feelings. First, the fact that it was five four, so agonizingly close, just underscored that the legal community on the right and left has been so wrong for so many years, saying this is going to be a nine zero ruling against President Trump,” Miller said.

While acknowledging the narrow margin, Miller said his larger concern centered on what he believes the ruling means for the future of the country.

“The heartbreaking part of this is thinking about what it means for America over the long term. Well, the short term, in the long term,” Miller said.

Miller contrasted the birthright citizenship decision with what he described as a series of major Supreme Court victories for the Trump administration.

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“Look, President Trump won some massive, unprecedented victories with the Supreme Court, like the Haitian TPS ruling, the asylum ruling, the slaughter ruling, giving him unfettered authority to terminate federal bureaucrats,” Miller said.

Despite those rulings, Miller said he believes the birthright citizenship decision represents a serious blow.

“But this is absolutely a deep knife wound in the heart of the American Republic,” Miller said.

To explain his position, Miller used an analogy involving an airplane.

“Look, Jesse, I can step tomorrow onto the deck of a 747 It does not mean that I am the pilot of that plane, I'm qualified to fly it. Just physically being on US soil does not make you a citizen or qualified to carry on are capable of executing the inheritance of this country,” Miller said.

Miller argued that current interpretations of birthright citizenship allow foreigners to obtain U.S. citizenship in a manner he believes was never intended by the Constitution.

“We have people from all over the world, from third world nations, nations that on their own would have never invented the wheel, let alone modern technology, let alone medicine, let alone air travel, and they can just come into the country, have a baby at a hospital paid for by you and me, and then that baby is automatically a citizen,” Miller said.

He continued by describing what he sees as the long-term consequences of that policy.

“That baby can sit on a jury when he turns 18 and sit in judgment of you and sit in judgment of me and sit in judgment of our loved ones. Can decide who our mayors are, our governors are, our presidents are,” Miller said.

According to Miller, citizenship loses its significance if it is automatically granted under those circumstances.

“Citizenship means nothing if it is open to everyone,” Miller said.

Miller also offered another hypothetical example.

“The idea that you can have a cruise ship filled with foreigners and they just dock at a port for an hour and someone has a baby, Jesse, the baby is an American citizen, they can vote in every election for the rest of their lives, they can be living in a foreign country and cashing welfare checks from American citizens,” Miller said.

Miller criticized the constitutional reasoning behind the ruling, arguing that the 14th Amendment does not apply in the way he believes some justices have interpreted it.

“Look, I know that some of the justices who worked on this, they think that they're so intelligent. There is no possible reading of the 14th Amendment that applies to foreigners with foreign loyalties, foreign citizenship, foreign obligations, foreign everything,” Miller said.

He also argued that constitutional interpretation should not produce outcomes he believes are harmful to the nation.

“And here's another point. Here's a pretty good clue your constitutional interpretation is wrong. If your ruling requires you to suicide your civilization, your reading of the Constitution is wrong,” Miller said.

Miller concluded by thanking President Trump for pursuing the issue and expressing confidence that additional action could eventually bring changes to birthright citizenship.

“President Grant and the congressman in the 19th century did not want to create an automatic third world citizenship requirement for America, it's an abomination, but let's thank President Trump, because of President Trump's courage and leadership. We are now on the precipice. Yes, we were dealt a setback, but because of his courage alone, we're on the precipice as a nation of being in a position to end this travesty once and for all, and that's what you have to fight for,” Miller said.

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