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.

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

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., held a hearing late Monday on the Trump administration's use of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act. Despite being blocked by the courts, the White House used the act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador,

THE WHITE HOUSE is openly challenging court orders as it seeks to carry out its mass deportation efforts, igniting a power struggle between the executive and judicial branches of government.

The Trump administration says it did not defy a weekend court order to halt the use of wartime powers to fast-track deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. They’re also trying to push the judge who issued the ruling off the case.