Except he doesn't
***
Romans 3:
21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."
And to support that and to prove that Paul is talking about ALL works, Romans 4:
"1What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness."
Paul then speaks that Abraham was circumcised but was justified by faith. But as you can see from his introduction to this example, Abraham's justification came from believing God, not from works.
So yes, Paul DOES say that we are justified by faith and not by works. Which means that you'd better explain how this doesn't contradict James.
It's obvious that the false and accursed gospel preached by heretics insists - in opposition to Scripture - that we are justified by faith AND works but, examined closely, we see that they are really preaching a works-based salvation. This is why they are seen as heretical and their false gospel is rejected by those who love the truth.
The scripture you are citing, Romans 3-4 speaks of “works of the law”, meaning specifically, the Jewish law mandating circumcision. Indeed, works made out of legal obligation, or for temporal reward, do not save anyone. The Romans, for example, did not have to get circumcised in order to obtain salvation. That is Catholic teaching, expressed beautifully by St. Paul.