LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The Trump administration slammed a judge’s “extraordinary intrusion” on presidential powers Thursday, after he ruled that the decision to send the California National Guard to protest-hit Los Angeles was “illegal.”

The ruling by US District Judge Charles Breyer ordering Donald Trump to return control of the reserve force to California’s Governor Gavin Newsom infringes on the president’s authority as commander-in-chief, the Department of Justice said in an emergency appeal.

Breyer stayed his order until Friday, however, giving the administration time to launch a swift appeal.

Within minutes the higher court issued its own ruling staying Breyer’s order for several more days to give it time to consider the appeal, with a hearing set for 17 June.

The stay means Trump would still control the National Guard in California during protests planned for Saturday.

Sporadic though spectacular violence has rocked Los Angeles over days of demonstrations against immigration raids launched by the Trump administration.

But the clashes fell “far short” of the “rebellion” the president described to justify his decision to send in the National Guard, Breyer said in a 36-page opinion released earlier Thursday.