President Donald Trump has warned that he could use the Insurrection Act in Los Angeles due to the growing protests against his immigration raids.

He supported his move to send 700 U.S. Marines and the California National Guard to help control the situation. He also brushed off criticism from California Governor Gavin Newsom, saying that the military help stopped more destruction.

Trump told reporters that if the unrest continued, he would consider using the Insurrection Act. “The last two nights were horrible,” he said. “If we hadn’t acted fast, Los Angeles could have been destroyed.”

While speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the National Guard helped stop the city from falling into chaos. He warned that if similar protests happened in other states, he would respond with even more force.

He said this could be the first of many similar events unless strong action is taken. Trump added that another 2,000 National Guard troops, along with 700 more Marines, were being sent to LA.

Trump criticized the protestors seen fighting with police. He said the protests started because people were angry about ICE raids targeting undocumented immigrants.

He also claimed that some of the protestors were “bad people” who were paid to create trouble.

Trump said parts of Los Angeles looked like an uprising and blamed “paid agitators” for turning peaceful protests violent.

He explained that his use of the word “insurrection” matters because there are laws that allow the president to use the military when there’s a rebellion inside the country.

While Trump believes an insurrection may be happening, California officials said their local police can handle the protests without military help.

Trump insisted the protestors were violent troublemakers. He mentioned a video of someone breaking sidewalk concrete and giving pieces to others to throw at police and soldiers. He said people even dropped pieces onto cars from bridges.

He accused Governor Newsom of being incompetent and said the governor’s poor leadership was making things worse.

Trump pointed to a legal order he gave on June 7, which allows him to send in the National Guard when there is a threat of rebellion or when U.S. laws can’t be enforced by regular means.

However, there’s also a law called the Posse Comitatus Act that usually prevents the military from acting like police inside the country.

Even so, Trump called the LA protests an “invasion” and described the protestors as “violent mobs” trying to start a rebellion.