The White House blasted "activist" federal judges and called on the U.S. Supreme Court to rein them in on Wednesday as President Donald Trump and his allies escalated their attacks against judges who have ruled against his administration.

The justices usually order the other side in an emergency appeal to respond in a few days or a week. But in this case, they have set a deadline of April 4.

As it pushes to implement a plan to end birthright citizenship, the Trump administration is counting on an argument about out-of-control federal judges to prove irresistible to some Supreme Court conservatives.