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 White House has invoked the Alien Enemies Act and alleged that those who were removed were linked to a gang, a claim their families strongly reject.

Venezuelans deported over the weekend to El Salvador by the United States have been denied due process, the president of Venezuela's National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, said on Monday.