Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, halted the program. The U.S Justice Department appealed that ruling and their request was denied by Tuesday's ruling. The Obama administration can now appeal to the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ruling further infuriated immigration rights advocates who were hours away from filing applications in February before Hanen initially struck down Obama's program. Supporters of Obama's immigration policies called the appeals court ruling disappointing, but predicted they would ultimately prevail in the legal dispute that is likely to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

"This decision is an outlier," said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. She called the lawsuit itself "a political anti-immigrant attack" pushed by Republican officials in thestates against the Obama administration.

Debbie Smith, associate general counsel with Service Employees International Union, predicted that Obama's actions and the lawsuits will be election issues, and that "the immigration voters will remember" when they go to the polls next year.

Melissa Crow, legal director with the American Immigration Council, pointed to the dissent in the appeals court ruling, saying that the president and the executive branch have the authority to set priorities when it comes to enforcing the nation's immigration laws.

Tuesday's ruling is highly technical in any event.

Cornell University Law School professor Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration specialist, said the ruling only involved whether the program could proceed while it was challenged in the court. It did not, he said, deal with the merits of the case.

"The court of appeals