San Francisco, April 26 (RHC)-- A U.S. federal judge in the state of California has dealt a major blow to the Donald Trump administration’s attempts to withhold billions of dollars of funding from so-called "sanctuary cities."

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the administration’s efforts, writing that Trump had overstepped his legal authority and that only Congress could make such funding conditions.

According to reports from Washington, the White House has been trying to force "sanctuary cities" to mobilize local law enforcement to work with federal immigration agents to carry out Trump’s mass deportation plans.

In a statement, the White House slammed the ruling, saying: "Today, the rule of law suffered another blow, as an unelected judge unilaterally rewrote immigration policy for our Nation."

And this morning, the U.S. president revved up his Twitter account and tweeted: "First the Ninth Circuit rules against the ban and now it hits again on sanctuary cities -- both ridiculous rulings.  See you in the Supreme Court!"