A federal judge barred the Trump administration Saturday from carrying out deportations under a sweeping 18th century law that the president invoked just hours earlier to speed removal of Venezuelan gang members from the United States.

A federal judge in Washington D.C. has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely invoked 1798 law, hours after the White House issued an executive order.

Claiming the United States was being invaded by a Venezuelan gang, President Donald Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a sweeping wartime authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations of people — potentially pushing his promised crackdown on immigration into higher gear.