A US federal judge ruled on Sunday in favor of TikTok to temporarily block President Donald Trump's order to ban downloads of the app in the US.

US District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, DC, made the decision hours before the ban would take effect after Sunday midnight.

TikTok welcomed the preliminary injunction.

"We're pleased that the court agreed with our legal arguments and issued an injunction preventing the implementation of the TikTok app ban. We will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees," the company said in a statement acquired by Xinhua.

John E. Hall, a lawyer for TikTok, had argued during a 90-minute Sunday morning hearing that the ban was "unprecedented" and "irrational."

John E. Hall, a lawyer for TikTok, had argued during a 90-minute Sunday morning hearing that the ban was "unprecedented" and "irrational"

"How does it make sense to impose this app store ban tonight when there are negotiations under way that might make it unnecessary?" Hall asked during the hearing. "This is just punitive. This is just a blunt way to whack the company. ... There is simply no urgency here."

The popular short-video platform requested an injunction on Sept 23 to temporarily block the Commerce Department's order to ban the app. The order, issued on Sept 18, bars Apple and Google's app stores from providing services for the apps' downloads and updates starting Sept 20.

A day later, the department delayed the ban to give the company an additional week till Sept 27 to finalize a deal.

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The judge on Sept 24 ordered the Trump administration to either postpone its ban on TikTok or respond by the afternoon of to the company's request.

Late on Sept 25, the Justice Department filed its opposition to TikTok's request, saying the injunction would "infringe on the President's authority to block business-to-business economic transactions with a foreign entity in the midst of a declared national-security emergency".

The Commerce Department also ordered a separate set of technical restrictions on TikTok starting Nov 12, including baring data hosting within the US, content delivery services and networks that can increase functionality and internet transit or peering services.

TikTok argues the Trump administration's restrictions "were not motivated by a genuine national security concern, but rather by political considerations relating to the upcoming general election".

READ MORE: TikTok ban shows US desperate to maintain hegemony

TikTok argues the Trump administration's restrictions "were not motivated by a genuine national security concern, but rather by political considerations relating to the upcoming general election"

"It is very hard to separate out these particular actions against TikTok and WeChat from the fact that they are taking place in the context of President Trump's trade war with China, as well as the president's history of anti-Chinese rhetoric and xenophobia," said Hina Shamsi, director of the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, at a webinar on Sept 24.

She argued that the government's concerns over national security are, "to say the very least, overstated" when one looks at the actual facts. The government actually hasn't provided specific and direct evidence of harm that rises to the level for such a pervasive ban, she said.

Under the terms of the TikTok ban, existing users could still post videos, but no new downloads or updates of the app would be allowed, which could cause outages or glitches in the future.

In a separate litigation, three TikTok content creators requested to block the ban on the app. The plaintiffs said they "earn a livelihood from the content they post on TikTok" and that platform's "For You" page is unique among social media platforms, because its algorithm allows "little-known creators to show their content to a large audience".

A judge in Pennsylvania rejected the request on Saturday, saying that the three had failed to prove they would suffer "immediate, irreparable harm" if new downloads are barred, since the app would remain operational for current subscribers.

Another federal judge in San Francisco has blocked a similar order from taking effect on the social media app WeChat. The judge cited "serious questions" about whether the WeChat ban infringed on users' First Amendment rights.

READ MORE: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by US judge on free speech concerns

The government has filed a motion in federal court to stay the WeChat Ban preliminary injunction pending appeal. The plaintiffs will "strongly oppose" the government's motion, according to the plaintiff's lead lawyer.

ByteDance said on Sept 20 it made a preliminary deal for Walmart Inc and Oracle Corp to take stakes in a new company, TikTok Global, that would oversee US operations.

TikTok also said that it had to continue talks with the US government on the potential deal with Oracle and Walmart. "At the same time, we will also maintain our ongoing dialogue with the government to turn our proposal, which the President gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement," TikTok's statement reads with reference to Trump who said he had approved a deal between the three parties in concept on Sept 19.

Negotiations continue over the terms of the agreement.

The deal is still to be reviewed by the US government's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

With inputs from Agencies