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U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy says a Congressional budget rider removing Montana and Idaho wolves from the Endangered Species list probably violated constitutional law. But case law means he doesn't have the authority to overturn the rule.

That's the decision Molloy issued Wednesday, just a week after listening to attorneys from groups like Alliance for the Wild Rockies accuse Congress of violating the Separation of Powers Doctrine.

Last week, protesters gathered outside Molloy's courtroom once more, registering their growing opposition to the on-going fight over wolf management in the Northern Rockies. At issue this time: a Congressional order in May removing protection once more for Idaho and Montana's wolves.

The conservation groups tried to argue that action, attached to a federal budget bill, violated the Constitution by telling the courts the provision couldn't be changed.

Molloy agreed somewhat with the conservation groups, saying the rider was a "debatable policy change", writing that "inserting environmental policy changes into appropriations bills may be politically expedient" but that it "transgressed" constitutional process.

However, he goes on to write in the 18-page brief, "If I were not constrained by what I believe is binding precedence from the Ninth Circuit," that he would say the rider is "unconstitutional because it violates the Separation of Powers Doctrine."

Molloy's ruling on this latest question leaves the broader issue in the hands of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is still considering the government's arguments of Molloy's ruling last August putting the wolves back under federal protection.

However, Wednesday's announcement does mean Montana and Idaho will be able to go forward with wolf hunts this fall.