A U.S. federal judge in Texas has issued a ruling that temporarily blocks President Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration. 

District Judge Andrew Hanen announced the ruling Monday in favor of 26 states, including Texas, that had filed a lawsuit seeking to permanently stop Obama’s order. The president announced in November that he was protecting as many as five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. The states had argued that the president had exceeded his constitutional authority, and would impose undue financial burdens on them.

“Judge Hansen’s decision rightly stops the President’s overreach in its tracks,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement.

The White House has said Obama is well within his authority in deciding how to enforce the nation’s immigration laws, citing previous Supreme Court decisions.  The administration is expected to file an appeal. 

The president’s executive order included expansion of a program that protects young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the United States illegally by their parents. The program was to begin receiving applications on Wednesday. The president’s order would also protect parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for at least five years and have committed no serious crimes.

Obama’s executive actions also angered congressional Republicans, who also claimed the president had overstepped his constitutional bounds. House Republicans have passed a spending bill that authorizes funding for the Homeland Security Department through September, but would undo the president’s orders. The bill has failed to gain approval in the Republican-controlled Senate, where Democrats have successfully blocked the measure from advancing to a final vote.

A group of 12 states and the District of Columbia filed a brief in support of the Obama administration, saying the president’s orders would economically benefit the states once those undocumented immigrants came out of the underground.
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