'You don't get to decide!' CNN legal expert furious as Trump admin thumbs nose at judge

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig took a deep dive into the Trump administration's apparent disregard for a federal judge's order to return deportation flights heading to Central America.

On Saturday, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ordered two flights carrying immigrants to El Salvador and Honduras to be immediately turned around. But the Trump administration appeared to mock the judge's order with White House communications director Steven Cheung and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reposting the Salvadoran President's comment on X that said, "Oopsie…Too late," with a laughing emoji.

CNN's Dana Bash said Monday, "Tom Homan, who is the border czar said that the plane was already over international waters. So, my question is, is that a good enough argument when the judge ordered the flights to be turned around and they didn't comply?"

Honig replied, "I think the first thing we need to figure out is, where were all of these planes? We know there were at least two, maybe three planes. We also know that the judge gave his ruling from the bench at 6:47 p.m. on Saturday. So, we need to know as of that moment, where were these planes?

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He continued, "And if you look at Homan's statement, he really seems to be arguing something else. What he is arguing is, 'Well, it would have been a really bad idea to bring these planes back,' but that misses the point. The first point is, that's what the judge ordered; you don't get to decide whether you think it's a good or bad idea. The second point is, they certainly could have decided to tell those planes to turn around. I mean, we have advanced communications here. Planes can be rerouted, but chose not to."

Bash said that a hearing had been set for 5 p.m. Monday when the judge will decide whether the administration did, in fact, defy the court order.

"He's going to want chapter and verse," Honig said of the judge. "Who knew what when? If the judge ultimately concludes that his order was defied, the remedies, I'm sorry to tell you, are not especially satisfying."

Honig said the judge could enter an issue of contempt, "but that's fairly toothless. That's more symbolic than anything else."

"There's always the theoretical possibility of impeachment, if you have the executive branch defying the judicial branch. But, we live in a reality, that's not going to happen either," he said.

Watch the clip below via CNN.