"We are very busy trying to find people who can help us. We are hoping our children can stay with other family members," she said Sunday. "We have had no guidance from Texas CPS on what we can do. We are trying to be ready and hope to find some relief. I know that something will open up. Heavenly Father will work his miracles. Heavenly Father will see us through. We depend on him."

On Sunday, it was quiet on the ranch called "Yearning for Zion" after a song penned by FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. Throughout the day, gawkers drove down the county road past the temple site, stopping to take photos.

An FLDS man told reporters gathered at the gates of the YFZ Ranch that the parents spent the day together, working through some issues.

"When does anybody heal when their children are taken from them?" he said. "They want their children back."

In a new development, the American Civil Liberties Union broke its silence about the issues surrounding the YFZ raid, raising questions about how the custody case was handled.

"While we acknowledge that Judge (Barbara) Walther's task may be unprecedented in Texas judicial history, we question whether the current proceedings adequately protect the fundamental rights of the mothers and children of the FLDS," said Terri Burke, the executive director of the ACLU of Texas, in a statement.

The ACLU said it deplores crimes against children and supports the government mandate to intervene when abuse is suspected, but raised questions about constitutional rights.

"As this situation continues to unfold, we are concerned that the constitutional rights that all Americans rely upon and cherish — that we are secure in our homes, that we may worship as we please and hold our places of worship sacred, and that we may be with our children absent evidence of imminent danger — have been threatened," Burke said in the statement.

Parker echoed those concerns, and said legal strategies are still being planned out. But he worried that with 416 children and hundreds of lawyers, "you may find 400 different strategies because of a lack of coordination." A flurry of legal motions to try to return the children to their parents could be filed in court as early as today.

The raid began April 3, when authorities acted on a series of calls to a family crisis center hotline in San Angelo made by a 16-year-old girl named "Sarah," who said she was pregnant and in an abusive marriage to an older man.

Numerous law enforcement agencies went into the YFZ Ranch en masse. Child protective services officials said that once there, they discovered numerous underage girls who appeared to be pregnant and other signs of abuse of children. That led to a judge's decision to order all 416 children removed from the FLDS compound.