Judges push back on Trump's expanding power as 'unconstitutional' and 'unlawful'

After a slew of high-profile successes in the U.S.

After a slew of high-profile successes in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trump administration found key parts of its agenda blocked in federal court this week, with judges criticizing its actions as "unlawful" and "unconstitutional."

Judges issued orders blocking the president's use of the wartime Alien Enemies Act to speed deportations, the federal deployment of the National Guard for law enforcement purposes in California, the freezing of $2 billion in federal funds to Harvard, and the termination of protected legal status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Venezuelans.

It was the worst week in the courts in months for President Donald Trump and his administration — and came after another major loss last week, when an appeals court struck down some of his tariffs. Trump is already appealing that ruling to the Supreme Court and has said it would be a "disaster" if it's not overturned.

The high court has granted the Trump administration’s emergency requests in 17 of 22 cases to date, a recent NBC News analysis found.

The flurry of appeals comes as the president has issued an unprecedented number of executive orders aimed at transforming the federal government.