Trump considers issuing 'brand new' travel ban order

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he is considering drafting a new order to ban migrants from majority-Muslim nations after his initial decree fell afoul of the law.

Insisting that he has the law on his side in spite of two defeats in federal courts in quick succession, Trump said security concerns may necessitate a quicker response than legal channels would allow.

"The unfortunate part is that it takes time statutorily, but we will win that battle. We also have a lot of other options, including just filing a brand new order," he said, adding that any action would not come before next week.

The statement represents an embarrassing climb down for Trump, who has insisted that the order was well drafted and who has nevertheless vowed to fight on in the courts.

"We need speed for reasons of security, so it very well could be," Trump said when asked if his plan was to have a new measure drafted.

Trump said on Friday at a joint news conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that, as president, he has learned of "tremendous threats to our country".

"We'll be going forward and continuing to do things to make our country safe. It will happen rapidly," he told reporters.

"We will not allow people into our country who are looking to do harm," he said. "We will allow lots of people into our country that will love our people and do good for our country."

Government lawyers are trying to come up with ways to amend the order that could be held up in courts, senior administration officials told NBC news.

Senior administration officials initially said that the administration would not likely appeal to the Supreme Court. However, chief of staff Reince Priebus reversed course by saying that they may bring it to the country's highest court.

"Every single court option is on the table, including an appeal of the Ninth Circuit decision on the TRO [temporary restraining order] to the Supreme Court, including fighting out this case on the merits," Priebus said.

"And, in addition to that, we're pursuing executive orders right now that we expect to be enacted soon that will further protect Americans from terrorism."

Legal experts, however, say that Trump’s re-writing does not nullify the numerous lawsuits against the administration.

According to Leon Fresco, who was deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Immigration Litigation at the Justice Department when Barack Obama was president, Trump’s anti-Muslim comments and his statements favouring Christian refugees could be significant evidence in court no matter how “watered-down the order might be”.

“The problem is this is such a bad case for the government to be making these arguments,” Fresco said to the Washington Post.

A US federal appeals court panel on Thursday unanimously upheld a temporary suspension of Trump's order that restricted travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The ruling from the federal appeals court on the contentious ban, which was issued on 27 January with no prior warning and suspended a week later, comes just three weeks into Trump's presidency.

As reports emerge that the administration is attempting to rewrite or even create a new order, a US federal appeals court on Friday asked the Justice Department and the state of Washington to submit briefs on whether a larger panel of judges should decide if Trump's travel ban should remain on hold.