President Morsi bowed to pressure from protesters who stormed the U.S. embassy in Cairo Tuesday. (Wikimedia Commons)

Four Americans were killed in the attacks, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. The Los Angeles Times reports about 50 Marines have been dispatched to Libya to secure the embassy.

Morsi made his appeal to the Egyptian embassy in Washington, pushing them to take "all legal measures," though Reuters pointed out he did not include details of what those measures might entail.

The president was answering a call put forth by protesters outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo, who demanded action.

From CNN:

In Cairo, several men scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy and tore down its American flag, according to CNN producer Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, who was on the scene.

Police and army personnel formed defensive lines around the embassy in an effort to prevent demonstrators from advancing, but not before the protesters affixed a black flag atop a ladder in the American compound.

The black flag, which hangs in full view from inside the complex, is adorned with white characters that read, "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger," an emblem often used by Islamic radicals.

But how will Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney respond to such a move on the part of the U.S.? Despite serious criticism, he's stood by his critique of President Barack Obama's response to the violence as an apology, calling it "disgraceful."

From Reuters:

Romney said his campaign was right to criticize the embassy statement, which he said showed the White House apologizing for American values of free speech.

"We join together in the condemnation of the attacks on American embassies and the loss of American life and join in the sympathy for these people," he said.

"But it's also important for me, just as it was for the White House last night, by the way, to say that the statements were inappropriate and in my view a disgraceful statement on the part of our administration to apologize for American values."

Romney said an apology for American values was never the right course and "the first response of the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation."

Romney also blasted Obama for failing to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York later this month for an annual gathering of the U.N. The White House has said the Israelis never requested such a meeting, and that Obama and Netanyahu had spoken for about an hour by phone on Tuesday.

Neon Tommy will continue to follow developments. Check out more of our coverage on Libya, Egypt and the 2012 presidential election. 

Reach Executive Producer Catherine Green here; follow her here.