(WASHINGTON) — A lawsuit filed by Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, seeking an injunction against President Obama's immigration action, was rejected by a federal judge on Tuesday night.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell denied the injunction, saying that Arpaio and his attorney, legal activist Larry Klayman failed to show the harm caused by Obama's actions. Howell noted that Arpaio, "waited two years to challenge the DACA program," and that, "any harm to [Arpaio] is likely to occur regardless of the challenged policies." The judge also claimed that the public interest does not support Arpaio's call for an injunction. 

“The president does not have the right to take matters into his own hands and ram it down the throats of the American people because he thinks he's above the law,” Klayman told reporters after a Monday hearing on his motion that lasted more than an hour.

Arpaio had said that his goal by filing the lawsuit was to stop the president from “ramming” new immigration policies “down the throats of the American people." Klayman said Monday he would appeal immediately, and would be willing to take the case as high as the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision, the White House claimed Tuesday night, "confirms what the Department of Justice and scholars throughout the country have been saying all along: the President's executive actions on immigration are lawful." Further, the White House notes that "the Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that federal officials can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws."

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