The Justice Department claims California's request to limit the federal response to violent riots in Los Angeles would "countermand" the president's lawful military directives.

As a fresh standoff developed Saturday between protesters and armed federal authorities in Paramount, Trump administration officials were vowing to prosecute any demonstrators who broke the law during Friday's violent demonstrations that accompanied immigration raids in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Several U.S. cities braced for protests on Wednesday against President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration raids, as parts of the country's second largest city Los Angeles spent the night under curfew in an effort to quell five days of unrest.