The legal strategy frequently favored by Republicans to obstruct the policies of Democratic administrations has taken an unexpected turn, with the tables now turned against former President Donald Trump and his aspirations for the 2024 election.

John Castro, an underdog GOP presidential contender challenging Trump’s candidacy across at least 14 states, has invoked Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure—a provision that grants a court the authority to issue a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order—as a tool against Trump’s 2024 campaign.

“If you utilize properly this special Rule 65, you can actually get a bench trial on the merits within 14 days. It’s absolutely crazy,” Castro said. “I filed the case and within 14 days, boom, we’re going to have a bench trial on the merits. And whatever the judge decides is going to hold true until the end of the trial.”

In recent times, Rule 65 has been wielded by figures such as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to impede President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

Republicans in states along the border have employed this special legal action to file lawsuits aimed at safeguarding Title 42 coronavirus restrictions on asylum enacted during the pandemic era and thwarting Biden’s 100-day deportation moratorium.

Paxton also utilized the rule in 2018 to file a nationwide injunction to halt the implementation of former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, more commonly referred to as DACA.

Now, Castro aims to employ the same rule against Trump.

“It’s been the one thing that the conservative movement has abused to get these nationwide injunctions against the Biden administration and also during the Obama administration,” Paxton said. “They were really good at doing that. Now this is sort of coming back to haunt them.”

Castro is urging judges across the country to consider his legal challenges against Trump’s 2024 candidacy, arguing that it is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.

Castro contends that Trump – pertaining to his role in the January 6 Capitol attack – “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States, which disqualifies him from seeking public office.

He also asserts that he would suffer personal “political competitive injury” because Trump’s candidacy would divert voters and donors away from his own 2024 campaign.

A federal judge in Arizona on Monday approved the scheduling of a preliminary injunction hearing for Castro’s lawsuit, set to take place on October 23rd.

Castro said, “If the judge in Arizona says, ‘I’m granting the preliminary injunction’ [and] the [case’s] filing period is November 10 to December 11,’ there’s no way you can have a trial that fast. So Trump is going to immediately cry foul, and he’s going to say, ‘This is unfair. This basically guarantees that I’m off the ballot in Arizona.'”

“His only recourse, at that point, is to go to the Supreme Court and basically beg them to intervene because if he tries to appeal it, I mean, you’re talking about the liberal 9th Circuit—that’s dead on arrival,” Castro continued. “So it’s a really good legal strategy. It’s going to box him in.”