She called out her role as different to explain why she doesn't agree with the OLC that it's legal.
My role is different from that of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which, through administrations of both parties, has reviewed Executive Orders for form and legality before they are issued. OLC’s review is limited to the narrow question of whether, in OLC’s view, a proposed Executive Order is lawful on its face and properly drafted.
I mean the DHS and other involved departments were also not consulted, so the idea that the DOJ got to weigh in on the legality is pretty strange/implausble.
I assumed the latter. We'll soon see how the legality of the order plays out in the courts anyway.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/opinion/trumps-immigratio...
Edit: Either way, my original blanket assumption that it had just not been looked at by the DOJ at all is clearly false as the OLC is a part of the DOJ.
Yates thought it would be better to go out with a bang than a whimper.
I'm sure the DNC will find her a nice comfy job after this.