Eric Lichtblau

The Justice Department said on Monday that it had found a way to unlock an iPhone without help from Apple, allowing the agency to withdraw its legal effort to compel the tech company to assist in a mass-shooting investigation.

The Justice Department, frustrated by its inability to unlock the iPhone of one of the attackers in the San Bernardino killings, demanded Friday that a judge immediately order Apple to give it the technical tools to get inside the phone.

Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook said the judge's order could undermine encryption for millions of other users.

A judge in California on Tuesday ordered Apple to help the FBI unlock an iPhone used by one of the attackers in the assault in San Bernardino that killed 14 people in December.

For all the emotion he showed, Obama nonetheless faces legal, political and logistical hurdles that are likely to blunt the effect of the plan. A number of the executive actions he plans are only suggested “guidance” for federal agencies, not binding regulations

Once again trying to sidestep a gridlocked Congress on a divisive issue, Obama will announce executive actions Tuesday to expand background checks for firearms and step up federal enforcement of the nation’s gun laws, White House officials said Monday.

Top White House advisers say they are still struggling to find a way for Obama to use his executive powers and tighten restrictions on gun sales. While the president has ordered officials to find ways for him to act unilaterally, aides said they have run into legal and political hurdles that make that difficult.

In the Republican and Democratic primaries alike, upstart candidates shunned by their parties' major donors are now financially competitive with opponents who have spent months or even years wooing the big-name donors and fundraisers who have traditionally dominated the money race.