A federal judge issued a restraining order Thursday and declared President Trump's move to federalize the National Guard in Los Angeles "illegal," but two hours later, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit temporarily blocked that order.

The standoff between President Trump and the State of California will now continue into the middle of next week, and the presence of National Guard troops and Marines in Los Angeles are likely to inflame tensions during planned protests this weekend. But tell that to a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — two of whom were appointed by Trump.

Calling the 36-page ruling "extraordinary," the New York Times reports that U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer — brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer — roundly denounced the Trump administration's effort to go around state officials and deploy federal troops to quell a relatively small protest in LA.

Breyer wrote that Trump's "actions were illegal — both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution." He also said that the deployment of troops set a "dangerous precedent for future domestic military activity," adding, "He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the governor of the state of California forthwith."

Breyer seemed entirely convinced by the state's argument about the situation in LA, writing, "the citizens of Los Angeles face a greater harm from the continued unlawful militarization of their city, which not only inflames tensions with protesters, threatening increased hostilities and loss of life, but deprives the state for two months of its own use of thousands of National Guard members to fight fires, combat the fentanyl trade, and perform other critical functions."

Attorneys general from 18 states had filed amicus briefs supporting California in the case.

The order set a deadline of noon on Friday for the transfer of control of the National Guard. And Governor Gavin Newsom perhaps declared victory too quickly, holding a news conference and declaring, "Today was really about a test of democracy. We passed the test."

Justice Department attorneys filed an emergency appeal to the Ninth Circuit, and within two hours a hearing was granted on Tuesday, June 17, and Breyer's order was stayed until then, while the Ninth Circuit reviews the case. The appellate judges gave no reasoning for their order, which arrived at 8:30 pm Pacific time.

This leaves both National Guard troops and Marines on the ground in Los Angeles, so far with little to do, according to Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom. But the "No Kings" protest planned for Saturday, while Trump has a birthday military parade in Washington, seems likely to spiral into a tense confrontation. In an interview with the Times' Daily podcast, Newsom noted that the National Guard troops — many of whom have days jobs in regular law enforcement — became "a destination" for protesters in the few-block radius of Sunday's unrest.

Breyer declined to grant a request by the state to also have a deployment of 700 Marines pulled back, saying that it was premature since the Marines had not done anything to violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars troops from engaging in domestic law enforcement. The judge suggested the state would have to see how things played out and return to court next week to seek an expansion of the order.

He also rejected the idea pushed by the government's lawyers that the president gets to define what constitutes a "rebellion."

"How is that any different from what a monarch has done?” Breyer asked in the courtroom, as the Chronicle reports, adding, "The Constitution is a document of limitations."

It remains plausible that the Ninth Circuit judges will reach a similar conclusion to Breyer, but a lot could happen in the five days between now and this next scheduled hearing.