Egypt's highest judicial body joined protesters Saturday in lambasting the country's president for issuing a decree disabling the courts and giving him unchecked power.

President Mohamed Morsy on Thursday announced that courts could not overturn any decree or law he has issued since taking office in June and, beyond that, in the six months until a new constitution is finalized, his spokesman said on state-run TV.

He also fired Egypt's prosecutor general, who has been criticized for the insufficient prosecutions of those suspected in demonstrators' deaths in 2011.

The Supreme Judicial Council, the highest judicial body in Egypt, weighed in Saturday, calling the decree an "unprecedented attack on the independence of the judicial branch," state-run media reported.

"The Supreme Judicial Council, which is in charge of all matters related to the judiciary and the judges, expresses its dismay at the issuance of such a decree and is calling on the president of the republic to distance himself from all matters related to the judicial branch and its agencies," state news agency MENA said.

The president's decree sparked demonstrations in Egypt and widespread anger in the country at Morsy, who had been widely praised across the world for spearheading a cease-fire agreement in Gaza after eight days of fighting between Israel and Hamas.

According to state-run EGYNews, which cited the Health Ministry, 261 people have been injured in clashes in Cairo and elsewhere since Morsy made his announcement. Forty-three of those reportedly remain in hospitals. The report did not indicate whether those injured were Morsy supporters or opponents.

Interior Ministry spokesman Alaa Mahmoud said 128 police officers were injured in clashes nationwide.

Dozens of protesters, some throwing rocks, faced off in central Cairo on Saturday morning with police, who fired tear gas canisters at them. The gas drifted through streets near a more thinly populated Tahrir Square, where just a day before thousands of protesters called for the overthrow of the regime.

Egyptian state TV reported clashes outside the judicial building in Cairo between opponents and supporters of the government. Clashes continued into the evening between protesters and security forces, with police firing tear gas and warning shots in the air near the Interior Minsitry.

Ministry spokesman Mahmoud said hundreds of Morsy supporters and members of the Muslim Brotherhood attempted to storm the building, but riot police stopped them.

The protesters congregated at the entrance of the judicial building. That's where the leadership of the Egypt Judges Club, an association of judges from across the country, was meeting with former Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud.

The judges and Mahmoud vehemently oppose Morsy's actions.

"The people want to execute the prosecutor general," the pro-Morsy protesters chanted outside the building.

The general assembly of the judges' club has called for a nationwide strike in all courts and prosecution offices to protest the president's move, state-run Nile TV reported.

Judges in Alexandria and Damanhour say they are putting all court hearings on hold until further notice.

Yet other judges offered support for Morsy. The Judges for Egypt movement, a nongovernmental organization made up of judges, denounced any call for a strike, according to state TV.

Morsy's supporters plan to assert their clout throughout the week. The Muslim Brotherhood, the movement Morsy once led, will stage nationwide demonstrations starting Sunday to back the president's decrees and plans. It also announced a "Million Man" demonstration Tuesday at Abdeen Square in Cairo in support of Morsy's decisions.

Nearly two years after popular unrest spurred former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's fall, throngs have taken to Egypt's streets in past days to call for revolution again, this time for the ouster of his successor.

Tents dot Cairo's Tahrir Square, just as they did during the 2011 uprising, and clashes between protesters and police were reported Friday in the capital, the port city of Alexandria and elsewhere around the North African nation. Opposition leaders say they are firm in their resolve and, in Cairo's landmark square at least, scores could be seen milling about overnight.

In a country already without a parliament, Morsy's announcement means he seems to have total executive, legislative and now judicial authority, all as a new constitution is being written.

"It's unprecedented, it's unimaginable, it's more (power) than Mr. Mubarak ever had," Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and head of Egypt's Constitution Party, told CNN. "This is the language of a dictator."

ElBaradei, a one-time head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged "civil disobedience."

"Endorsing the position of ElBaradei, (former Arab League chief) Amr Moussa and others, I urge all who voted for me to stand with us against the tyranny of the regime," wrote Ahmed Shafik, a former prime minister who received 48% of the vote in this year's presidential run-off, on Twitter.

Despite such opposition, Morsy was defiant and insistent Friday that his actions are in the interests of the Egyptian people.