North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) said the federal government gave the state an “unrealistic” deadline to respond to a letter informing him that the state’s bathroom law violates the Civil Rights Act. 

{mosads}”They gave the ninth-largest state in the United States … three working days to respond to a pretty complex letter and to a pretty big threat,” McCrory said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We don’t think three working days is enough to respond to such a threat.”

McCrory said he asked for an extension on Friday.

The Justice Department sent a letter to the governor that says the law violates protections against workplace discrimination based on sex. It gave the governor until Monday to confirm “that the State will not comply with or implement HB2.”

Many people in support of LGBT rights condemned the law in North Carolina, which requires transgender people to use public bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex.

McCrory said in an interview Sunday that the Justice Department agreed to give a one-week extension if the governor admits that the language in the bathroom law does discriminate.

“Well, I’m not going to publicly announce that something discriminates, which is agreeing with their letter, because we’re really talking about a letter in which they’re trying to define gender identity,” he said.

He added that there is no clear definition of gender identity.

McCrory said he doesn’t have the authority to change the laws as the governor of North Carolina. 

“This unrealistic deadline by the federal government is quite amazing to the ninth-largest state, but I’ll make a decision in the next 24 hours on how to respond to it,” he said.

He said he is discussing “all of our legal options, all of our political options.”