() Comments from Oregon’s top military leader, testifying before state lawmakers several days ago, are making the rounds on social media.

In the clip, Brigadier General Alan Gronewold said Oregon National Guard members “will be protecting any protesters at the ICE facility.”

His comments on Sept. 30, however, do not match his authority at the moment.

Under President Donald Trump’s federalization of the Guard, Gronewold’s troops have been removed from his command and placed under that of the U.S. Northern Command.

But Gronewold’s testimony vowing to protect local protesters was echoed in a letter to the state’s soldiers and airmen before his troops were federalized.

“I know some of you may have strong feelings about this mission. That’s okay. You are citizens first, but you’re also service members who took an oath to support and defend the Constitution and follow the orders of the President and the Governor. That oath doesn’t come with an asterisk that says, ‘only when I agree with the mission.’ We don’t get to pick and choose. We execute lawful orders with professionalism and honor, period. That’s what sets us apart. That’s what makes us the National Guard,” Gronewold wrote.

A federal appeals court Wednesday lifted a judge’s order blocking President Trump from calling Oregon National Guard troops into federal service, but he still may not deploy them for now.

The temporary administrative stay puts U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut’s order halting Trump’s federalization of the National Guard members on hold while the appeals court weighs whether to extend the pause as it considers the administration’s appeal. But it keeps in place her second order barring the president from sending the troops anywhere in the state.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit wrote in a brief order Wednesday that the decision best preserves the “status quo.”

“The effect of granting an administrative stay preserves the status quo in which National Guard members have been federalized but not deployed,” they wrote.

The panel made up of two Trump appointees and an appointee of President Clinton will hear arguments Thursday about whether to pause Immergut’s order until ruling on the administration’s appeal.

local affiliate KOIN in Portland contributed to this report.