Lawyers for Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan will appeal a court's decision not to hear their last-ditch challenge, and argue it would be unthinkable if they were executed in the meantime.
An administrative court in Jakarta determined it wasn't authorised to examine the case that President Joko Widodo didn't follow due process when he rejected clemency for the Bali Nine drug smugglers without considering their circumstances.
Authorities say preparations to move Chan and Sukumaran to the island where they are set to face the firing squad are 80 per cent complete, and the move is "very likely" this week.
The men's lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said they had 14 days to appeal and would do so.
He called on Attorney-General HM Prasetyo to respect the rule of law and halt the executions pending the appeal.
"We live in a state based on law and this is part of the legal process," he said.
A spokesman for Mr Prasetyo said he wouldn't comment on the outcome as the challenge didn't involve his office.
Mr Joko meanwhile said no intervention would stop the executions of Chan, Sukumaran and other foreigners.
"It's our sovereign law, our political sovereignty," he told reporters on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
The president said he had taken phone calls from the leaders of Brazil, France and the Netherlands on the issue.
Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Brazil after it delayed the acceptance of his credentials over the execution of a Brazilian last month, and plans to execute another national at the same time as the Australians.
Mr Joko said it was a "matter of dignity, of national honour".
Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters he viewed matters with Australia differently.
"Brazil is humiliating us, Australia is begging to us, that's different," he said, according to the website.
Barrister for Chan and Sukumaran, Julian McMahon, said the court's decision was disappointing.
But the objective remained to have the merits of the men's case for clemency heard in a court.
Chan and Sukumaran loved Indonesia, were fluent in Indonesian, and were doing valuable work to help Indonesian prisoners in Kerobokan jail that deserved to be calmly considered.
"There's quite a bit of tension in the media about various things that have been said in both countries," Mr McMahon told reporters in Jakarta.
"A great concern of ours is that things just calm down, that tension is unnecessary, and it's not fair to the people involved.
"It's not fair to people whose lives are in the balance. It's not fair to the decision makers such as the president who need to make difficult decisions, balancing different issues and hopefully without being distracted by irrelevant issues."
Mr McMahon said it would be unthinkable to execute his clients while an appeal was ongoing.
"They simply can't be snatched away and killed. That's contrary to the rule of law," he said.
Chan and Sukumaran were to be transferred from their Bali jail cells to Nusakambangan penal island last week, but it was found to have inadequate isolation cells.
Construction materials have been arriving on the island and a jail official has said there are orders to accelerate the works for completion within days.
On Tuesday, there were increased navy patrols around Nusakambangan, and Sukhoi jets on stand-by to escort the men's air transfer to Java flew over Kerobokan jail at the same time the court in Jakarta handed down its decision.
The other failed challenge of a clemency decision in the court was a 2012 case brought by an anti-drugs group against the clemency for Australian drug smuggler, Schapelle Corby, who is now free on parole.
