Chinese in the United States challenged the Act as being unconstitutional because it contravened prior treaties, but with no success. The California Circuit Court ruled that Congress could modify any treaty at any time, and the Supreme Court found that, although the Scott Act did contravene the treaties, control over immigration was a sovereign right and thus Congress had the authority to act as it saw fit regardless of any international agreements. This position stood in stark contrast to the U.S. insistence on extraterritorial rights and trading privileges in China that had been enshrined in prior treaties.