By Kanishka Singh, Mike Scarcella and Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday suspending security clearances held by people at New York law firm Paul,

Experts have warned that the president’s efforts threaten the ability of lawyers to do their jobs and private citizens to obtain legal counsel.

A law firm targeted by President Donald Trump over its legal services during the 2016 presidential campaign has sued the federal government over an executive order that seeks to strip its attorneys of security clearances.

U.S. law firm Perkins Coie has hired outside lawyers from Williams & Connolly in response to President Donald Trump's executive order last week punishing the firm over its prior work for Hillary Clinton and its internal policies promoting diversity and inclusion.

The president’s use of government power to punish firms is seen by some legal experts as undercutting a basic tenet: the right to a strong legal defense.

Conn., joins Morning Joe to discuss President Trump issuing an executive order banning the government from hiring Perkins Coie, prohibiting working with contractors who use the firm and suspending the security clearances of all its lawyers.