In this photo released by the Egyptian Presidency, President Mohammed Morsi, right, poses for a photograph with his new Prosecutor General, Talaat Abdullah, left, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. Egypt's president on Thursday issued constitutional amendments granting himself far-reaching powers and ordering the retrial of leaders of Hosni Mubarak's regime for the killing of protesters in last year's uprising. Morsi also on Thursday fired the country's top prosecutor by decreeing with immediate effect that he could only stay in office for four years and replacing him with Talaat Abdullah. Morsi fired Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud for the first time in October, but had to rescind his decision when he found that the powers of his office do not empower him to do so. (AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency)
Morsi's speech Friday came while thousands of opponents and supporters clashed in the streets over the decree that critics fear allows him to be a virtual dictator.
The decrees exempt him and other bodies from judicial review.
Morsi's supporters have cast the decrees as temporary measures through the transitional period to prevent supporters of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, including judicial officials, of blocking reform.
"There are weevils eating away at Egypt's nation," he said, accusing some judges of planning to disband the upper house of parliament.
Tens of thousands of anti-Morsi protesters rallied miles away in Tahrir Square.
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