Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, said he opposed the order in part because the issue—raised by an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday—had not properly played out in the lower courts, making it unclear if the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to weigh in yet.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito faulted his colleagues for temporarily halting deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act “literally in the middle of the night.” Alito’s dissent, also sent out at nearly midnight Saturday, came after the court agreed in the early hours of the morning to block for now any additional flights that would transport migrants to a Salvadoran prison.

I refused to join the Court’s order because we had no good reason to think that, under the circumstances, issuing an order at midnight was necessary or appropriate.” “Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law. The Executive must proceed under the terms of our order in Trump v. J.G.G., and this Court should follow established procedures,” Alito wrote.