Within hours of his inauguration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the enforcement of a TikTok ban that had taken effect the previous day.

The move tossed a lifeline to TikTok -- and its 170 million users in the United States.

Responses varied among the third-party companies responsible for keeping the app operational. Hosting firms made TikTok available for users on Tuesday, while app stores declined to carry it.

Even after the executive order, the fate of TikTok remains highly uncertain, legal and tech policy analysts told ABC News. The executive order could face legal challenges, while the app may degrade over the coming months without user updates delivered via the app store, they said.

Still, TikTok could avert a ban, they added, since China-based parent company ByteDance may sell the app -- or Trump could seek a repeal of the law that banned it in the first place.

“At this point, anything is possible,” Sarah Kreps, the director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, told ABC News.

The Trump administration did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. Neither did TikTok.

TikTok remains available -- for now

The executive order urges the attorney general to forgo enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days, seeking to reassure the companies that maintain the digital infrastructure upon which the app relies. It also calls on the attorney general to send letters to each company reaffirming the policy of non-enforcement.

TikTok briefly went dark on Sunday in the initial hours after the ban took effect, but the app restored operation later that day, citing support from Trump.

Companies that violate the law risk a penalty of $5,000 for each user who accesses TikTok.

“At 170 million users, that’s $850 billion dollars in liability that could be imposed on the company at any moment if the government chooses to enforce the law,” Timothy Edgar, a computer science professor at Brown University and a former national security official, told ABC News.

Companies that deliver web support for TikTok – including Oracle and Akamai Technologies – appear to have found enough reassurance to continue servicing the app, experts told ABC News.

“The essential services have been switched back on,” Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University, told ABC News.

Oracle did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. Neither did Akamai.

Since the ban took effect, however, app stores run by Apple and Google have barred new users from downloading the app and prevented existing users from updating it.

Without updates, the app is expected to degrade in quality over time through inconveniences such as video-loading delays and performance glitches, though the app could likely remain functional for the duration of Trump’s 75-day extension and potentially longer, some experts said.

“I don’t think 75 days will be a problem, and I doubt six months would be much of a problem. If it goes into a number of years, that could be a problem,” Edgar told ABC News.

Apple did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. Neither did Google.

TikTok executive order may trigger lawsuits

Supporters of the TikTok ban may sue the Trump administration over its apparent refusal to faithfully execute a measure enshrined in U.S. law, experts said. In fact, most analysts who spoke to ABC News said such a court challenge is likely to be filed.

The Trump administration retains latitude in setting its law enforcement priorities, focusing its resources on some areas of federal law while pulling them away from others, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law who studies tech-related issues, told ABC News.

However, Vishnubhakat added, Trump may have violated his executive-branch duty by explicitly stating plans to abandon enforcement of the TikTok ban, Vishnubhakat added.

“To formalize it this way is unusual,” Vishnubhakat said. “As far as I’m aware, there isn’t any such authority.”

The extension offered up by Trump is separate from a 90-day extension that was included in the ban law. Under that stipulation, a sitting president could pause the ban as long as TikTok credibly shows advancement toward a sale.

Rather than make reference to that aspect of the ban law, Trump established a separate avenue devoid of conditions and centered on a potential TikTok sale, Chander said.

“The executive order doesn’t tell us what legal authority the president is relying on,” Chander added.

The executive order does note, however, that the national security interests at stake in the ban are typically the purview of the executive branch, Edgar said. In theory, he added, the Trump administration could appeal to such powers as justification for the powers commanded under the executive order.

“Though Trump may be going beyond the letter of the law, he’s invoked national security arguments,” Edgar said. “I think the court would say, ‘I don’t think we should have someone outside the executive branch enforce the law.’”

TikTok could sell or Congress could repeal the ban

The executive order issued by Trump may gain TikTok crucial time to explore a sale, experts told ABC News.

Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump indicated that he would help facilitate a sale of TikTok, which would put it in compliance with the law.

"TikTok is worthless, worthless if I don't approve it, it has to close,” Trump said. “I learned that from the people that own it. If I don't do the deal, it's worthless.”

Trump said that there should be at least 50% U.S. ownership of the app, though it remained unclear whether he meant that the U.S. government should retain part ownership of TikTok or a private U.S.-based investor should assume such control.

The ban law requires that TikTok find a non-adversary owner, but it does not require the app to find a parent company based in the U.S.

Ownership of TikTok by the federal government, meanwhile, would present an unusual scenario in which the U.S. held a large take in a major media firm, Chander said. The move could raise questions about the potential role of the government in editorial choices made by the company, he added.

“This is a very puzzling idea,” Chander said.

Setting aside a potential sale, Trump may be buying himself time to marshall the votes in Congress to repeal the TikTok ban, some experts said.

A repeal would require passage in both houses of Congress, landing the measure on Trump’s desk for his signature.

Congress voted in favor of the ban nine months ago. In the House of Representatives, the ban passed by an overwhelming margin of 352-65. In the Senate, 79 members voted in favor of the measure, while 18 opposed and 3 abstained.

Since then, however, Trump has voiced his disapproval of the measure and Republicans have taken control of both chambers.

The prospects for a repeal remain in doubt, Vishnubhakat said. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ar., and Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Ne, who both voted in favor of the ban, issued a statement on Sunday warning companies against working with TikTok in defiance of the law.

The statement suggests Trump may find difficulty persuading Congress to repeal the law, Vishnubhakat said.

“My sense is the president's political influence over Republicans in both houses of Congress remains quite strong but not especially on this issue,” Vishnubhakat added.