Norm Eisen, former White House ethics lawyer to President Obama, knocked President Trump on Wednesday for his reaction to a federal judge's ruling immediately halting his second travel ban, saying that Trump's remarks could hurt him if he challenges the ruling.

"Legal disaster--he is digging grave for the second [executive order] and maybe the 3rd one," Eisen said in a tweet.

The tweet appeared to be referring to Trump's statements during a rally in Nashville, Tenn., that his new travel ban was "a watered-down version of the first one."

Legal disaster--he is digging grave for the second EO and maybe the 3rd one https://t.co/9U6QrQ9RcA — Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) March 16, 2017

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, a President Obama appointee, ruled after a hearing on Wednesday that the state of Hawaii and a Muslim leader showed a "strong" likelihood of success in their lawsuit against the ban and put a nationwide restraining order in place. The plaintiffs argued that the policy violates the Establishment Clause and proved that "irreparable harm" is likely if temporary relief is not granted.

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The temporary restraining order, which will be in place while the judge considers the case, blocks the major components of the travel ban: a 120-day suspension of the refugee resettlement program and block on nationals from six majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days. The policy was set to go into effect just after midnight.



Trump responded during his rally: "We're going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way to the Supreme Court, and we're going to win."

"I think we ought to go back to the first [ban], and go all the way," he added. "That’s what I wanted to do in the first place.”

Some political observers responded that the statements during the rally could be used against Trump in court, citing Watson's Wednesday ruling, which used the words of multiple Trump allies as a justification for blocking the ban.

Watson noted that senior adviser Stephen Miller said in a Fox News interview that the revised order was fundamentally the same as the first despite a few key changes intended to bolster the administration's case in court.

There’s nothing “secret about the motive of Trump’s executive order" Watson added before quoting top Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, who said Trump originally called it a "Muslim ban."