“There are plenty of legal and constitutional issues involved in this,” acknowledged Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, when asked on Friday what further steps he might take. “There are certain things we definitely can do and there are certain things we can’t. … Some of it has to do with where federal authority begins and ends.”

The flurry of orders appears to have been triggered by an increasing exodus of New York City and New Orleans residents to other states as the situation in those locales becomes more dire and dangerous.

Some of the orders specifically target the New York region, while others are more broadly focused. The directives also range in aggressiveness. Texas and Rhode Island are planning to use state police to enforce their new policies. Raimondo said the National Guard will help implement its approach, which involves trying to intercept motorists with New York license plates, inform them of the quarantine order and finding out where they plan to stay.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, started the trend earlier this week, trying to discourage what he called “reckless” travel by sending the National Guard to Florida airports to tell inbound passengers from New York and New Jersey that they needed to self-isolate for 14 days. DeSantis announced Friday that he was stepping up the effort, setting up state police checkpoints on various highways to give similar instructions to people driving in from New Orleans.

The new salvos from governors come less than two weeks after DeSantis publicly called on Trump to limit travel to his state from the most infected parts of the U.S.

Trump confirmed that he had spoken to DeSantis, a close political ally, about the issue.

“We're working with the states, and we're considering other restrictions,” Trump told reporters the same day.

On Saturday, Trump announced his administration was looking at a quarantine of New York and New Jersey and their surrounding areas.

Before that, no domestic travel limits were forthcoming from the White House, even as Trump continues to boast that his decisions to limit travel from China and Europe dramatically retarded the spread of the virus in the U.S.

On Friday, Trump was evasive when asked about the issue during a White House briefing.

“We’re being very strong on quarantine,” Trump said, despite the federal government issuing only guidelines regarding domestic travel. “We're being very strong on people not leaving certain states and going to other states.”

“Can we go to a tougher level?” Trump said later. “We can, but that causes other problems.”

If anything, Trump seemed to have moved in the other direction, signaling that he wants to see lockdown-type measures lifted soon in as much of the country as possible in order to mitigate the economic damage the nation is facing.

As a result, governors are stepping into the breach, creating a hodgepodge of travel restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of the virus into their states.

Raimondo, the Rhode Island governor, used blunt language to defend her move.

“There’s no other choice. I have to make decisions that I believe are in the best interest of keeping Rhode Islanders alive,” she said.

“We’re not shutting down our border per se,” she added. “What we’re saying is: If you want to seek refuge in Rhode Island, you must be in quarantine for 14 days, and we, the people of Rhode Island, plan to enforce that.”

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) was similarly direct, saying he was trying to keep the increasingly painful scenes in New York from playing out in his state.

“We don’t want to be in a situation like New York is in right now,” Abbott said. “The New York tri-state area is the center of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.”

Awkwardly for the White House, Abbott repeatedly stated that his decision to impose a “mandatory self-quarantine” on visitors from the New York area was based on conversations with the two most prominent federal medical officials who advise Trump on the pandemic and often flank him at his daily news conferences: Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx.

In fact, Abbott said he added people flying in from New Orleans to the quarantine list after Birx specifically suggested it to him on the phone. “Dr. Birx mentioned it would also be helpful,” he said.

At the White House briefing Friday, Birx said her advice had been for New Yorkers “to voluntarily self-isolate and take care of themselves.”

Abbott said noncompliance would be a criminal offense punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 180 days in jail. Raimondo also threatened fines or arrest for breaking her quarantine order.

However, the Texas order covers only air travel and not road travel — a puzzling omission, especially regarding travelers from New Orleans, who are just a four-hour drive from the Texas state line.