"The broader issue of whether the executive branch has the legal authority to make the CSR payments is the center of a separate lawsuit filed by the House in 2014. The House argued that the executive branch, which had been making the payments, did not have the constitutional authority to do so because Congress had not explicitly appropriated money for CSRs. The case has been pending since the November 2016 presidential election, and up until this month the executive branch had continued to make the payments."

The ruling by the Federal Judge back in 2016 on the East Coast in the case where the House of Representatives sued President Obama.

"Speaking to the broader question of whether Congress appropriated money for the CSR payments, Chhabriain said that "both sides have reasonable arguments," but "it appears initially that the Trump administration has the stronger legal argument."

https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2017/10/26/csr-ruling

Obama's payment action was illegal!