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 plane carrying more than 200 Venezuelans deported by the US has landed in El Salvador, hours after a US judge ordered the Trump administration not to do so.

Court documents say Customs and Border Protection violated a court order to halt the deportation of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, which the agency allegedly carried out “without any justification.”

An appeals court has lifted a block on executive orders seeking to end government support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, handing the Trump administration a win after a string of setbacks defending President Donald Trump’s agenda against dozens of lawsuits.

The decision from a three-judge panel allows the orders to be enforced as a lawsuit challenging them plays out.