Lawyers with the Department of Justice asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to enter an administrative stay of the lower court's temporary restraining order, which blocks the Trump administration from invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport noncitizens.
"This Court should halt this massive, unauthorized imposition on the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose threats to the American people," the filing said.
The government argued that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg overstepped his authority, declined to hear a response from the Trump administration before ruling and is "setting the stage to potentially inject itself into all such removals nationwide."
Boasberg previously oversaw the United States Alien Terrorist Removal Court and was nominated to federal judicial roles by both presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous