(WJAR) — A federal judge in Rhode Island issued another order Thursday meant to stop the Trump administration’s funding freeze from taking effect.

“The Executive’s categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government,” U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell wrote to open his decision to issue a preliminary injunction against Trump in the lawsuit filed by more than 20 states to fight the funding freeze.

Trump, shortly after taking office in January, ordered a freeze on trillions of dollars in funding to programs across the country as he sought to determine if the flow of money was aligning with his agenda.

McConnell writes, “The Executive put itself above Congress. It imposed a categorical mandate on the spending of congressionally appropriated and obligated funds without regard to Congress’s authority to control spending. Federal agencies and departments can spend, award, or suspend money based only on the power Congress has given to them–they have no other spending power.”

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is a co-leader in the lawsuit against Trump.

“We don’t have kings in this country, and today’s preliminary injunction reaffirms that,” Neronha wrote in a statement Thursday in reaction to McConnell’s ruling. “Americans pay taxes to the federal government knowing that the Congress will allocate their dollars towards agencies and programs that will support them in their daily lives. The President’s federal funding freeze would be laughable if it wasn’t so utterly destructive. It flies in the face of everything we know to be true about our government, namely our separation of powers, by attempting to render the Congress as irrelevant.”

McConnell cited examples in which he believes Congress was clear on how certain funding should be spent, like for clean water programs, heat pump subsidies, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.

The judge stated the freeze has impacted Head Start and other childcare programs, federally funded Medicaid programs, and “critical transportation infrastructure.”

McConnell had previously issued a temporary restraining order in the case to halt the funding freeze.

Now the preliminary injunction is in place as the case continues.

“Even though some funding has begun to flow again after the TRO entered, the States have presented evidence of harm resulting from the chaos and uncertainty that the Defendants’ arbitrary decision to categorically freeze billions of dollars in federal funding,” McConnell wrote. “Even with the Court’s TRO in place, state agencies continue to experience interruptions to access and inconsistent ability to draw down funds from grants,” he added.

McConnell again wrote that the states have a likelihood of success in their case against Trump.

The judge stated the Trump administration has, “failed to offer rational reasons” that “justified the indefinite pause on nearly all federal funding.”

McConnell writes, “The Court is not limiting the Executive’s discretion or micromanaging the administration of federal funds. Rather, consistent with the Constitution, statutes, and caselaw, the Court is simply holding that the Executive’s discretion to impose its own policy preferences on appropriated funds can be exercised only if it is authorized by the congressionally approved appropriations statutes.”

Neronha wrote, “We have a long road ahead of us, to be sure. But today’s decision reminds us that the President cannot amend the Constitution with the stroke of a pen.”