Trump officials said the deportations don’t violate a judge’s order barring use of the Alien Enemies Act for removals -- but also questioned the order’s validity.

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.

FileThe Trump administration has deported alleged members of a Venezuelan gang from the U.S. despite a court order forbidding it.And late on Sunday, the White House said the judge who gave that order did not have the authority to block the administration’s actions.