The White House is denying that it violated a judge’s order Saturday to halt the deportations of Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, which, if it did occur, would take legal showdowns over the administration’s claims of vast presidential power closer to the edge of a constitutional crisis.

The immigrants were deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has been used only three times prior and requires a president to declare the United States is at war.

A federal judge blocked flights on Saturday, considering that the Alien Enemies Act is intended for state actions and not gangs, therefore, there cannot be summary expulsions. This Saturday, and after repeatedly announcing and promising it during his campaign,