WASHINGTON — The White House will suspend plans to begin giving more than 4 million immigrants here illegally work permits as it pursues an appeal of a Texas federal judge’s ruling that temporarily blocks President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration.

The ruling late Monday by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen throws millions of immigrants into limbo. The injunction allows a coalition of 26 states more time to pursue a lawsuit to permanently stop Obama’s Nov. 20 executive order, which would shield from deportation more than 4 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had been expected to begin accepting applications Wednesday for a part of the program that would defer deportation for an estimated 270,000 immigrants brought to the country as children. Other parts of the program were set to begin in May, but Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday afternoon that the administration had no choice but to conform to the ruling and wouldn’t be accepting applications.

“We must comply,” Johnson said in a statement.

Many Republican leaders issued news releases to praise the ruling. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the decision underscored the contention of many that the president didn’t have the authority to unilaterally change immigration laws.

Hanen based his temporary injunction on his findings that at least one plaintiff, Texas, “stands to suffer direct damage from the implementation” of Obama’s executive action, which he said “mandates that states bear the burdens of costs” of providing services to those in the country illegally. He said the government had failed to follow the required procedures for enacting new regulations and added that once the executive action is implemented, there would be no effective way of retracting any benefits or services to the beneficiaries.

“This genie would be impossible to put back into the bottle,” Hanen wrote.

In December, then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is now the governor, led a coalition of states that sued Obama, arguing that his unilateral executive action was unlawful and would cause the states “dramatic and irreparable injuries.”

The ruling may also give Republicans in Congress a convenient escape valve from a controversial decision to attach funding for the Department of Homeland Security to a measure that defunds the executive action.

The bill passed the House of Representatives but has stalled in the Senate, threatening a shutdown of the department if legislation isn’t passed by Feb. 27. Polls find that Republicans in Congress would shoulder the blame for a shutdown if Congress were unable to enact a spending bill to keep the DHS running.

The Mexican government expressed regret about the court’s decisions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision could create more confusion in the immigrant community and leave some susceptible to scams.

“These programs are a fair remedy for millions of families and have the potential to strengthen the significant contributions that Mexican immigrants make to the American economy and society,” the government said in a statement.

Many immigrant advocates called the ruling extreme and expressed confidence it would be overturned on appeal. They urged immigrants to continue preparing their applications.

“Our message to people is don’t panic,” Debbie Smith, associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union, said in a conference call with reporters. “This is just a blip.”

The White House will appeal the case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in New Orleans. Attorney General Eric Holder characterized the judge’s ruling, which doesn’t have a set time period, as an interim step.

“I have always expected this would be a matter settled by a higher court; if not the Supreme Court, then an appellate court,” Holder said at a media event Tuesday.

Obama, during a meeting with newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, said he disagreed with the federal court’s ruling. He said lower courts had often blocked or attempted to block policies that ultimately were given the green light.

“The law is on our side and history is on our side,” the president said.