In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held today that suspected terrorists held by the United States at such facilities as the Guantanamo Bay military prison have the right to challenge their detention in U.S. federal court. The ruling is in direct opposition of President Bush’s contention that such detainees are not entitled to the same legal rights as U.S. citizens.

In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system reconciled within the framework of the law.”

Kennedy was supported by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Steven Breyer - generally considered “the liberal contingent” of the court, according to CNN.

The Bush administration has argued that the federal courts have no right to rule on the legal rights of enemy combatants, and has held that such responsibility lies with the military. Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts agreed.

In a strongly-worded dissenting opinion, Justice Scalia wrote that the majority opinion “warps our Constitution” and that “the nation will live to regret what the court has done today.”