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.

Administration officials said they expect the fight over using the wartime act to ultimately head to the Supreme Court.

An extraordinary legal showdown took place last weekend over President Donald Trump’s invocation of an 18th century wartime act to deport hundreds of immigrants, most of them Venezuelans, to a prison in El Salvador.