I don't want this to be a defense of elon musk. Everything he is currently doing is unequivocally wrong and he does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

That said, there have been multiple cases where 'unconstitutional' actions had good faith interpretations. The obvious one being the Underground Railroad. Less obvious was Lincoln suspending habius corpus in 1861 (I don't know if the term executive order existed back then, but this sure felt like one). It would be another two years before Habeas Corpus Suspension Act of 1863 was passed.

Overused? Sure, beyond belief. But dropping a "The Constitution is not a suicide pact" feels particularly appropriate right about now.