US President Trump fires acting Attorney General Sally Yates

President Donald Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates Monday night for "refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States," the White House said.

"(Yates) has betrayed the Department of Justice," the White House statement said.

Dana Boente, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has been named new acting attorney general, the White House said.

Boente was sworn in at 9 p.m. ET, per an administration official.

The dramatic move came soon after CNN reported Yates told Justice Department lawyers not to make legal arguments defending Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees.