Congressman Seth Moulton (D-Salem), a decorated veteran of the Iraq War, is blasting President Trump's abrupt announcement this morning that he is barring transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump tweeted this morning. "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you."

"We’ve never had any testimony in the Armed Services Committee that I’m aware of where a general has said that transgender people should not serve in the military," Moulton, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, responded on Boston Herald Radio's "Morning Meeting" this morning. "Let’s not forget that this is a president that says he knows more than the generals. This is a president who refuses to listen to daily intelligence briefings and is infamous for not even taking the advice of our senior military leaders. He’s also someone who frankly lies all the time. So the sad thing is. I don’t know if we can even believe what he said in this tweet, that he’s talked to generals, or even who these generals are."

Transgender people have been able to serve openly in the military since 2016 when, under President Obama, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter, ended a ban on transgender people who are currently in the military.

The president's announcement today came as a surprise to many observers. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last month had extended until Dec. 1 a deadline on whether to allow new recruits who are transgender, noting in a memo that the delay “in no way presupposes an outcome” and stating the Defense Department will continue to treat all service members "with dignity and respect."

Moulton said Congress may have a role to play in seeking to block the president's new policy.

"Certainly this is something that Congress can have a say in as far as policy, and it may be something where we have to overturn a policy that comes down from the Executive Branch," he told "Morning Meeting" hosts Jaclyn Cashman and Hillary Chabot. "Ultimately, it is the Congress that sets the policy for the US military. But the president does as the Commander in Chief have some authority with his executive actions and we will see what he intends to do."

Moulton noted that just last week the House last week voted down a proposal that would have prevented the Pentagon from funding gender reassignment surgeries for service members, on a 209-214 vote, with 24 Republicans voting against it.

"There was debate back and forth, and ultimately freedom civil rights prevailed," Moulton said. "We said that if anyone wants to serve the country, is willing to put his or her life on the line for our country, then we should allow that — in the same way that back in the 1950s there was a big debate about if African-Americans should have the right to serve in the military. So that amendment was a great victory for I think the great institution of Congress. It was voted down by all the Democrats and a number of Republicans who crossed the aisle to shut down that amendment and say that no matter who you are if you’re willing to put your life on the line for America, we want you to be able to serve our country. This is a sad day for civil rights if the president is trying to reverse that decision. And I think you’ll see folks on both sides of the aisle try to stop it."

There are between 1,320-6,630 active military transgender service members out of approximately 1.3 million on active duty, and between 830-4,160 reserves, according to a 2016 RAND Corp. study.

The RAND study had estimated "between 29 and 129 service members in the active component will seek transition-related care that could disrupt their ability to deploy."

Moulton, a Bronze Star Medal recipient who served four tours of duty as a Marine captain in Iraq, said to his knowledge he never served with a transgender service member.

"But I did serve with several people who were gay," said Moulton, who served from 2003-2008. "Back then — it wasn’t that long ago, just a few years, but it was before the end of 'don’t ask don’t tell.' One of the great Marines I served with was named Joe and he was actually from Massachusetts. He served in the Marines like all the rest of us, and then he got out and he came out of the closet. He admitted that he was gay, something he had to keep hidden so that he could serve in the military and in the Marines and in Iraq. When he came out of the closet a few months later he received a notice from the Marine Corps that they were calling him back, that they needed him to go back to Iraq for the surge or to Afghanistan. All he needed to do was pick up the phone and call the Marine Corps and say two words: 'I’m gay.' And under the previous policy he wouldn’t have had to go back. Now this is someone who’d already served overseas, already risked his life for the country, it’s someone who very easily could’ve said, 'send someone else in my place.' Instead he decided to hide a fundamental part of who he is just so he could go again and risk his life for our country. So that was really inspirational to me, that he had to fundamentally hide a part of himself in order to serve when someone else easily could’ve gone in his place. And that’s why I’m so supportive of allowing anyone to serve, no matter their gender or sexual orientation or anything else. They ought to be able to serve in our military if they’re willing to risk their lives for our country."