The Justice Department will appeal a federal judge's Friday night ruling that would block the White House from approving new applications to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, President Biden said in a statement Saturday.

Biden called U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen's decision "deeply disappointing," but acknowledged that it's ultimately up to Congress to pass legislation that could provide a "permanent solution" for protecting undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. when they were children from deportation.

DACA was implemented by executive order when former President Barack Obama was in office, but Hanen ruled that Obama exceeded his authority in doing so.

Hanen said his decision does not apply to current program recipients, commonly known as DREAMers. The judge wrote that the federal government should not "take any immigration, deportation, or criminal action" that it would "not otherwise take." Read more at NPR and The New York Times.