Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker backed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Tuesday over the senator's criticism of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

"[H]aving been in the chair as both acting attorney general and chief of staff to the Department of Justice, I saw firsthand how these nationwide injunctions by district court judges, especially in California, frustrated this president's agenda and really the administration from doing much of anything especially as it related to the southern border and issues relating to immigration," Whitaker told "Outnumbered Overtime."

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Sotomayor had expressed outrage at conservatives on the high court for overturning numerous nationwide injunctions against Trump administration policies by lower courts. Cruz rejected Sotomayor's critique, comparing her to an arsonist filing a noise complaint against the fire department.

"I think Ted Cruz is absolutely right," Whitaker told host Harris Faulkner. "He's not only a smart lawyer, he's got experience in front of this court."

According to Whitaker, federal courts have issued 55 nationwide injunctions against the Trump administration's policies -- more than those issued against Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush combined.

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"The only way, when you're dealing with California district courts and the Ninth Circuit, to get any kind of relief, is to go in this emergency posture to the Supreme Court," Whitaker added.

"The way the Supreme Court is handling them, and with the five conservative justices are handling them, is to push back on especially the Ninth Circuit because it is so biased against this administration that we just couldn't get anything done," he said. "I know the president is very frustrated by that."