Texas Judge Temporarily Blocks Obama's Immigration Executive Order

A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked President Barack Obama's recent executive order on immigration, resulting in strong condemnation from the White House.

 U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen blocked the executive order that would provide amnesty to thousands of immigrants, giving states that oppose the order more time to file a lawsuit that could permanently halt the president's actions.

Hanen wrote in his ruling that the lawsuit against the president's executive order should continue in order to avoid "virtually irreversible" consequences if the president's order is carried out.

"The genie would be impossible to put back into the bottle," Hanen added in his opinion.

"The court finds that the government's failure to secure the border has exacerbated illegal immigration into this country," Hanen wrote. "Further, the record supports the finding that this lack of enforcement, combined with the country's high rate of illegal immigration, significantly drains the states' resources."

Hanen added in his ruling that he ordered a temporary block to Obama's executive action because the White House allegedly violated the Administrative Procedure Act that calls on the presidential administration to observe a grace period before taking action.

The White House released a statement Tuesday condemning Hanen's ruling and arguing that the president's actions "are well within his legal authority."

"The district court's decision wrongly prevents these lawful, commonsense policies from taking effect," the White House said in a statement. "The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws — which is exactly what the President did when he announced commonsense policies to help fix our broken immigration system."

The Justice Department has reportedly already confirmed that it will appeal Hanen's temporary block.