Story highlights The administration will appeal the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

The federal judge in Hawaii said "the court pretend it has not seen what it has"

(CNN) The Justice Department has filed a notice to appeal a Hawaii-based federal judge's ruling that indefinitely halted core portions of the President Donald Trump's revised travel ban.

Two weeks ago, US District Court Judge Derrick Watson blocked the executive order on the grounds that it likely violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution by disfavoring Muslims.

But Watson's initial decision was only a limited freeze of the executive order through a temporary restraining order.

As a result, the plaintiffs asked the judge to convert that decision into a longer-term preliminary injunction and Watson agreed Wednesday night, meaning that the President's 90-day ban on foreign nationals from six Muslim-majority countries and the 120-day ban on all refugees entering the country are now blocked indefinitely, unless any higher court changes Watson's order or the state's lawsuit is otherwise resolved.

The Justice Department has not yet filed its formal appellate brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case will eventually be heard, but that is the next step.