President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General William Barr depart after delivering remarks on citizenship and the census in the Rose Garden at the White House on Thursday, July 11th, 2019 in Washington, DC.

The Justice Department on Wednesday said in a court filing that it wants a federal judge, rather than a New York state judge, to decide whether President Donald Trump can block the Manhattan District Attorney's Office from getting his personal and corporate tax returns with a grand jury subpoena.

The filing by the Justice Department with Manhattan federal court Judge Victor Marrero did not take a position on whether the subpoena for Trump's tax returns is valid.

Instead, the department argues that there are "weighty constitutional issues involved" that are more appropriately decided by a federal judge, Marrero, as opposed to a state one.

The filing said that blocking the subpoena until Marrero can rule on those issues "will prevent irreparable harm to the President's asserted constitutional interests in not having his records subjected to state criminal compulsory process in these circumstances."