WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court acted “literally in the middle of the night” and without sufficient explanation in blocking the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th-century wartime law, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a dissent that castigated the seven-member majority.

Joined by fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, Alito said there was “dubious factual support” for granting the request in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union. The group contended that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart such removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The majority did not provide a detailed explanation in the order early Saturday, as is typical, but the court previously said deportations could proceed only after those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given “a reasonable time” to contest pending removals.

“Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law,” Alito said in the dissent released hours after the court’s intervention against Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.

The justices’ order directed the administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”

Alito wrote that it was not clear whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction at this stage, saying that not all legal avenues had been played out in lower courts and the justices hadn’t heard the government’s side.

The administration has filed papers urging the high court to reconsider its hold.

On Friday, two federal judges refused to step in as lawyers for the men launched a legal campaign to prevent their deportation. Early Saturday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused to issue an order protecting the detainees from being deported.

The ACLU had already sued to block deportations of two Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet facility and sought an order barring removals of any immigrants in the region under the act.

In the emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan men held there of being in the Tren de Aragua gang, which would make them subject to Trump’s use of the law.

It has only been invoked three previous times in U.S. history, most recently in World War II to hold Japanese American civilians in internment camps.