A federal judge on Wednesday declined to consider Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) request to remove National Guard troops from Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer indefinitely paused the state’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking hundreds of military troops from patrolling the city’s streets due to questions about whether he holds the authority to grant the demand when a higher court is already probing the matter.

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The development comes after Breyer ruled last week that President Donald Trump’s move to deploy the military to Los Angeles earlier this year broke federal law, specifically the Posse Comitatus Act, which harshly limits the use of federal troops to enforce civilian laws.

The Trump administration swiftly appealed the ruling in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case is now being examined.

The debate sparked in June when the president authorized thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid protests and riots against the Trump administration’s effort to deport illegal immigrants in the area. The president said troops were needed to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from violence and deter crime in the city. In August, after the unrest died down, Trump authorized another extension of 300 National Guard troops to remain in Los Angeles until early November.

The affair has sparked disputes over the role of the military in civilian life, with critics arguing the deployment violates constitutional limits on mixing the two. While California and Trump’s federal takeover of the District of Columbia provoked the initial controversy, the matter has become a broader issue as the White House has toyed with sending federal troops to some of the largest cities in the United States, including Chicago and New York, as an anti-crime effort.

In Los Angeles, Newsom resisted the troops from the start, accusing Trump of illegally trying to use the military as a domestic police force.

After Trump appealed the use of troops to the 9th Circuit last week, Newsom asked Breyer to block the National Guard from operating in the city, as it is set to spend nearly another two months in the metropolitan hub.

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The judge on Tuesday ruled against Newom’s efforts to seek a preliminary injunction blocking the administration’s Aug. 5 order to extend the deployment of the 300 troops for another 90 days.

Although the remaining 300 soldiers  will not be required to leave as the legal battle plays out in the higher court, the judge ordered the White House to stop using the troops “to execute the law.”