A U.S. appeals court on Thursday refused to immediately halt the government‘s bulk collection of millions of Americans‘ phone records during a „transition“ period to a new federal scheme that bans the controversial anti-terrorism surveillance.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said it would not disturb Congress‘ decision to provide a 180-day period for an „orderly transition“ to a new, targeted surveillance system from the sweeping National Security Agency program that the court found illegal on May 7.