Finally, social media was buzzing this weekend about a judge who issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) ordering the Administration to turn around several planes already carrying hundreds of ganged-up Venezualan Tren de Aragua illegals down to El Salvador’s famous ultramax prison for processing. The planes didn’t turn around. And so progressives started partying, crying now we’ve got him! He defied a court order! He’s acting like a king! Haha! But their celebrations were short-lived. ABC ran the story under the headline, “Trump administration ignores judge’s order to turn deportation planes around.”

Referencing the judge’s order last night, El Salvador’s president tweeted, “Oopsies! Too late!”

Then Trump’s lawyers, who’d already appealed the pop-up TRO, filed a “notice” with the judge, explaining the gangsters were deported anyway “pursuant to other authorities” besides the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (later codified into federal law at 50 U.S.C. §§ 21-24). But the ACLU argued the “ancient” law could only be used in wartime or if we are under invasion, and the judge apparently agreed that a short-term TRO was appropriate.

It all happened fast. Trump’s lawyers weren’t present at the emergency TRO hearing, but the planes were already in the air by the time they found out about the order. Amusingly, in their notice, Trump’s lawyers did not explain exactly what “other authorities” were used instead of the Alien Enemies Act.

But the number of other possible authorities are, as they say, a target-rich environment.

Dare I say this is more Phase Two? Trump’s team has been carefully and quietly laying the foundations for this battle for weeks. On his first day in office, President Trump signed several executive orders. One declared an invasion and ordered the military to seal the border. The next declared a national state of emergency because the “southern border is overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans.”

A third EO ordered all agencies to cooperate in a whole-of-government effort to protect America from the invasion, invoking immigration law. A fourth proclaimed that the federal government would begin protecting the states from the invasion— fulfilling its Constitutional duty (which Biden ignored). A fifth order began the process of declaring the gangs and cartels to be ‘foreign terrorist organizations.’

Last week, that process finished, activating a slew of additional laws and powers, and only then, after all that, did Trump invoke the Alien Enemies Act. In other words, Trump already declared an invasion two months ago. That declaration has never been questioned. It has never been enjoined. And he has issued many more executive and military actions consistent with and relying on his original invasion declaration.

That original declaration of invasion was never challenged in court because it is subjective and relies on the Commander-in-Chief’s opinion. In other words, declaring an invasion is a political question, not a judicial question. The courts have no role in it.

The Democrats don’t have a legal leg to stand on. Trump’s team sewed it up twenty different ways months ago. Democrats never saw it coming. Not until now. Now, we are moving into the next phase, the action phase, when it starts becoming clear what all the preparations were leading up to.

It was also political genius. By starting with these hyper-violent cartel crooks, Trump is making Democrats defend some of the most violent and reprehensible criminals in the world. It’s not a good look, to say the least.

Pop your popcorn. Things are about to get even more interesting. If that is possible