Further:

Coughenour said the Trump administration must pursue a constitutional amendment if it wants to change the 14th Amendment, an effort that would require ratification from a large majority of Congress and U.S. states.

"We are all citizens subject to the rule of law. No amount of policy debate can change that," the judge said. "And the fact that the government cloaked what is in effect a constitutional amendment under the guise of an executive order is equally unconstitutional. The Constitution is not something the government can play policy games with."