At a press conference in Tampa, CAIR Florida's deputy executive director Hiba Rahim said the organization, which has 25 affiliated chapters nationwide, will file a lawsuit "in response to his defamatory and unconstitutional order, baselessly smearing CAIR Florida." Which court the suit would be filed in or the details of the complaint weren't clear.

"Your designation has no basis in law or fact," Rahim said, referring to DeSantis. "You do not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally declare any American or an American institution a foreign terrorist group, nor is there any basis to level the smear against our organization."