LONDON (Reuters) – Pro-Brexit lawmakers in Britain’s upper house of parliament tried on Thursday to thwart the approval of a new law which would force Prime Minister Theresa May to seek a delay to prevent a disorderly EU exit on April 12 without a deal.

May has already committed to seek a short extension to Britain’s European Union membership and work with the opposition Labour Party to come up with a different exit plan, in a last-ditch attempt to hold on to power after her own Brexit deal was rejected three times by the lower House of parliament.

But lawmakers have used an unprecedented procedural gambit to pass legislation without the approval of the government, seeking additional legal guarantees that May will not give up and lead Britain out of the bloc without a deal.

The bill passed through the lower chamber, the House of Commons, by a single vote late on Wednesday night and is now in the House of Lords, an unelected body whose role is to refine and scrutinize legislation before it is approved.

The process of passing the bill through the Lords got off to a rocky start on Thursday when some members of the debating chamber – also known as peers – launched a series of attempts to delay or even halt the process.

“All that lies between us and tyranny is that we respect the conventions of both Houses,” said Michael Forsyth, a pro-Brexit Conservative member of the Lords, accusing Labour Party spokeswoman Dianne Hayter of setting a dangerous precedent to try and block Brexit.

By long-standing convention, the government usually has sole control of the agenda in parliament but this was overturned last month with the help of a rebellion in May’s own Conservative Party.

“She is in danger of tearing up our constitution in order to make a narrow party political point,” Forsyth said

Thursday’s debate is expected to continue into the early hours of Friday morning, with long speeches designed to eat up debating time and prevent the bill from completing the necessary stages in time.

“What we are seeing today … is a small group of unelected peers in an unelected house, firstly trying to stop us considering the bill today and then trying to talk it out and no doubt seeking to go through the night to halt the Commons’ desire to prevent a no deal,” Hayter said.

The law is being rushed through a legislative process which usually takes months, to try and make sure it comes into effect before May attends a summit of EU leaders on April 10.

If successful, it would require May to get parliament’s approval for the detail of any delay and allows lawmakers to propose a different length of extension. The government has argued that it is an unnecessary measure which could have unintended consequences.

Although there is no fixed time-limit on the debate, those opposed to it are hoping that by dragging the discussion late into the night, the chamber could adjourn to Monday and endanger the already tight timetable to get it passed before the summit.

Those in favor, however, said they were not planning to buckle, with plans being set for overnight rotas and refreshments.

“I and my friends, we will be here all night. I have discovered that breakfast starts at half past 7 in the morning so I am taking orders now,” Hayter said. “If that is what it takes … that is what we will do.”

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