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Congress usurped the exclusive authority of the president when it passed a law requiring US officials to record 鈥淚srael鈥� as the place of birth of Americans born in Jerusalem, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Monday.

In a 6-to-3 decision, the high court struck down as unconstitutional a law that sought to undercut a long-standing US policy of neutrality over the disputed sovereignty of Jerusalem.

The decision marks a defeat for an American couple who have fought for 12 years to have 鈥淚srael鈥� listed as the place of birth on their son鈥檚 US passport rather than simply 鈥淛erusalem.鈥� 聽

Under US policy, consular officials are instructed to list 鈥淛erusalem鈥� rather than 鈥淚srael鈥� as the birthplace for all Americans born in that city.

Although Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital, the city鈥檚 status is considered disputed by the international community, including the US State Department.

Nonetheless, Congress in 2002 passed a measure that required consular officials to record 鈥淚srael鈥� as the place of birth whenever the American parents of a child born in Jerusalem requested that designation on their child鈥檚 passport.

Both the administrations of George W. Bush and President Obama opposed the congressional measure, saying it interfered with the executive branch鈥檚 conduct of foreign affairs.

The dispute was over significantly more than just which place of birth might be listed on a passport. The case grew into a major examination of the separation of powers and the sometimes conflicting roles of the president and Congress in matters of foreign policy.

Ultimately, the majority justices sided with the executive branch and against Congress, ruling that the president enjoys exclusive power to formally recognize foreign countries and that Congress may not enact laws that contradict that recognition authority. The Jerusalem passport requirement was such a law.

鈥淚t is clear that Congress wanted to express its displeasure with the President鈥檚 policy by, among other things, commanding the Executive to contradict his own, earlier stated position on Jerusalem,鈥� the high court said. 鈥淭his Congress may not do.鈥�

Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the court did not question the power of Congress to enact passport legislation 鈥渙f wide scope.鈥�

The problem with the Jerusalem law, Justice Kennedy said, was how Congress exercised its legislative authority.

鈥淚t was an improper act for Congress to aggrandize its power at the expense of another branch by requiring the president to contradict an earlier recognition determination in an official document [a passport] issued by the executive branch,鈥� Kennedy said.

鈥淭o allow Congress to control the president鈥檚 communication in the context of a formal recognition determination is to allow Congress to exercise that exclusive power itself,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a result, the statute is unconstitutional.鈥�

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia said the passport measure had nothing to do with diplomatic recognition or any other binding act of foreign policy. The measure simply required a listing of 鈥淚srael鈥� as the place of birth if requested by a US-citizen parent, he said.

鈥淚t is utterly impossible for this deference to private requests to constitute an act that unequivocally manifests an intention to grant recognition,鈥� Scalia wrote in a dissent joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.

The decision stems from a lawsuit filed by Ari and Naomi Zivotofsky, whose son, Menachem, was born in 2002 in Jerusalem.

As US citizens, the parents were entitled under the Foreign Relations Authorization Act to have their infant son鈥檚 passport record that he was born in Israel.

When Mrs. Zivotofsky requested that designation, consular officials refused. They said State Department policy was to record the place of birth as simply 鈥淛erusalem.鈥�

Since the sovereign status of the city is under dispute between Arabs and Israelis, the US government has tried to maintain a neutral position, in part to bolster its credibility as an honest broker in Mideast peace talks.

Congress rejected that approach and decided instead that the United States should recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and should move the US embassy there. Congress also instructed consular officials that whenever a US citizen-parent of a newborn in Jerusalem requested it, the place of birth should be recorded as Israel.

A federal judge dismissed the Zivotofsky鈥檚 case, ruling that they lacked the necessary legal standing to challenge consular rule. An appeals court reversed. On remand, the federal judge again dismissed the case, ruling that the underlying issue presented a political question best resolved by elected officials. The appeals court upheld that decision, but the US Supreme Court reversed it and sent it back to the lower courts to resolve the case. On remand, the appeals court found that the congressional measure impermissibly intruded into the president鈥檚 authority to recognize foreign governments.

The case then returned to the Supreme Court. It was argued Nov. 3.

In its decision on Monday, the majority justices said the executive branch was not free from the 鈥渙rdinary controls and checks of Congress鈥� in all matters of foreign affairs.

Rather the court鈥檚 ruling related only to the recognition of foreign governments. The majority said it is for the president alone to decide what foreign power he will recognize.

鈥淩ecognition is an act with immediate and powerful significance for international relations, so the president鈥檚 position must be clear,鈥� Kennedy said. 鈥淐ongress cannot require him to contradict his own statement regarding a determination of formal recognition.鈥�

In his dissent, Scalia said the majority opinion threatens to erode congressional power over foreign affairs by assigning exclusive authority to the executive branch.

He said the decision upsets the constitutional balance set by the nation鈥檚 founders. 鈥淭hey did not entrust either the president or Congress with sole power to adopt uncontradictable policies about any subject 鈥� foreign-sovereignty disputes included,鈥� he said.

鈥淭hey instead gave each political department its own powers, and with that the freedom to contradict the other鈥檚 policies.鈥�

Under that constitutional approach, Scalia said, Congress could require a citizen鈥檚 requested birthplace designation, even if it clashed with the president鈥檚 鈥減reference for neutrality about the status of Jerusalem.鈥�

In a separate dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts said the majority justices were reaching out to decide too much in the case. 鈥淚t has not been necessary over the past 225 years to definitively resolve a dispute between Congress and the president over the recognition power,鈥� he said. 鈥淧erhaps we could have waited another 225 years.鈥�

He said instead, the majority 鈥渟trains to reach the question based on the mere possibility that observers overseas might misperceive the significance of the birthplace designation.鈥�

鈥淎nd in the process,鈥� the chief justice added, 鈥渢he court takes the perilous step 鈥� for the first time in our history 鈥� of allowing the president to defy an act of Congress in the field of foreign affairs.鈥�

The case was (13-628).