THE BLAZE -- When explaining why Congress should pass her bill repealing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — which Trump indicated would play a role in his crackdown on illegal immigration — Omar apparently identified who would benefit: criminals.

Glossing over illegal aliens' de facto violation of U.S. immigration law and evident contempt for American sovereignty, Omar claimed that they will not be kicked out of the country "because of anything they have done" but "because where they are from."

"The Trump administration's immigration policy is a threat to immigrants like criminals," said Omar. "America is too great to fall prey to Donald Trump's anti-immigrant agenda."

To keep criminals and potential enemies inside the U.S., Omar and Hirono have reintroduced the so-called "Neighbors Not Enemies Act," with the help of Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D), legislation that would have, for instance, barred Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman from deporting German citizens during World War II, referred to by Omar as "world war eleven" during the press conference.

An early 20th-century supplemental brief filed in support of the plenary power of Congress over alien enemies and the constitutionality of the Alien Enemies Act noted that the law was passed when the U.S. was on the verge of war with France.

In the initial debate over the proposed law, some lawmakers raised the concern that there were persons "who have not only been extremely instrumental in fomenting hostilities against this country, but also in alienating the affections of our own citizens." It was apparently men of this description — those who could engage in espionage and sabotage in wartime — that President John Adams wanted to send packing, posthaste.

Apparently, the first cases that arose under the statute occurred during the War of 1812 after President James Madison invoked the act against British nationals. According to the supplementary brief, these cases contained "no expression of doubt by the courts as to [the law's] constitutionality."

The Brennan Center noted that the president can invoke the Alien Enemies Act either in times of "declared war" or when a foreign nation threatens or undertakes an invasion against American territory.

Daniel Tichenor, a political science professor at the University of Oregon, noted last month that while Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act would likely trigger numerous court battles, courts may ultimately choose "not to intervene on the grounds that a president simply saying that the country is invaded by a foreign nation is sufficient and is not subject to judicial review. This possibility makes it impossible to automatically dismiss blueprints for using an 18th-century law, however dubious."

In other words, Trump might be able to successfully utilize the late Federalist Party's law to oust suspected enemy aliens and other criminals, upsetting Omar in the process.