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President Donald J. Trump’s defiance of two court orders barring him from deporting people without due process has thrust the United States into a clear constitutional crisis.

And with Mr. Trump seemingly immune to any legal consequences for his actions, his fellow Republicans in Congress may soon be forced to decide where their first loyalty lies — with the Constitution, or with a president who is openly violating it.

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As part of his crackdown on immigration, Mr. Trump on Friday quietly signed an executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the detention and expulsion of citizens of nations with whom the U.S. is at war. It has been used just three times in American history — during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. In the most recent conflict, it was used to put Japanese Americans into detention camps solely on the basis of their ancestry — a shameful action for which presidents, Congress and courts have apologized.

Mr. Trump argues that the U.S. faces a “war” or “invasion” involving transnational gangs like Tren de Aragua from Venezuela and MS-13 from El Salvador. Of the 261 immigrants expelled Saturday night, the administration says he used the act against 137 suspected gang members, and various other federal laws against the rest.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg,........

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