Sign of the times in Egypt Since then, throngs have taken to the streets to demonstrate against him and the constitutional group led by Muslim Brotherhood members.
Protests have been large, boisterous and occasionally violent, picking up steam after the president issued an edict last week that included making his decisions since taking office in June immune from judicial oversight.
The tent city pitched on a roundabout has spread across the traffic circle. As has become customary in recent weeks, food vendors set up stands in the middle of the street. Protest leaders trod the boards of a sound stage, belting out chants over microphones to the crowd.
The hasty nature of the call to approve the draft constitution added to Egyptian's discontent.
The snap vote prompted several walkouts, reducing the number of the original 100 assembly delegates. Those who resigned were replaced by members of the Brotherhood and allied Salafist Nour Party. Eighty-five members approved the draft.
The assembly was dominated by Islamists. All of the Coptic Christian members officially resigned as a bloc, and many of the others who departed were liberals.
The the rest of the constitutional assembly members took the departing members into consideration when discussing the various articles, said Essam El-Erian, a senior presidential adviser.
Critics call the maneuvering a case of the Muslim Brotherhood trying to hijack the constitution less than two years after Mubarak's ouster. Others interpret the vote as a way to quickly defuse anger about the president's recent decree granting himself expanded presidential powers.
Protesters to Morsy: Roll back your decree or leave
Morsy has appeared on state TV to promise Egyptians that his decrees would apply only to "sovereign" matters and go out of effect as soon as a new constitution is ratified in a public referendum.
He justified targeting the judiciary with an edict, accusing members of the judiciary of working to thwart gains made in the Arab Spring uprising. The executive and legislative branches of government have since been replenished, but many of the same judges still sit on the courts' benches, including Mubarak loyalists.
Some judges had threatened to disband the assembly writing the constitution.
The assembly convened Thursday and continued through the night and well into Friday morning as members voted on each article separately, discussed objections by dissenters and made alterations.
At the end of 21 hours, the assembly's head, Hossam al-Ghiriyani, asked the members if they agreed to the 234 articles. After a show of hands, he said: "Agreement by consensus. May God bless you." The room broke into applause, and everyone stood for the playing of the national anthem.
Opinion: A new Egypt must learn political compromise
Expert opinions on the new constitution ranged from angst to elation.
"The draft constitution will end the state of political division, because it will cancel the constitutional decrees that the president issued," said Dawood Basil, an expert in constitutional law from Cairo University. "I feel overwhelming joy after hearing the final wording of the articles."
"All Egyptians -- of all background -- were taken into account when efforts were made to put together this draft," said Ramadan Battikh, a professor of constitutional law at Ain Shams University.
Critics say the constitution could lead to excessive restrictions on certain rights, moving Egypt closer to Sharia law.
"As far as rights are concerned, the 1971 constitution was much better," said Dr. Mustapha Kamel Sayed, a Cairo University professor, referring to the old constitution still in place under Mubarak.
Heba Morayef, the Egypt director for Human Rights Watch, said "there aren't really any protections for women," for instance.
The preamble includes language pertaining to women, stating that they are equal to men but also accentuating their roles as mothers.
"There is no dignity for a nation which does not honor women; women and men are equal, for they are the fort of motherhood, half of the society and partners in all the gains and national responsibilities," it reads.
Citing the family as "the foundation of society," it guarantees free maternal health care and promises to reconcile "a woman's duties toward her family" and her job.
Other provisions distinctly protect individuals' civil rights, particularly in how they are treated by security forces and the judicial system.
They include wording to prevent arbitrary arrest and detention, and ensure due process by the courts, a sensitive topic in Egypt, as Mubarak and his loyalists are blamed for jailing and harshly mistreating innocents before and during last year's uprising.
Anyone jailed cannot be interrogated without an attorney present, and if detainees don't have one, the judicial system must appoint one.
Phone conversations, electronic correspondence and other communication cannot be tapped without a warrant.
Article 65 guarantees social security benefits to all Egyptians. Lawmakers could be seen applauding on Egyptian state TV after its approval.
Read more: Clinton not warned of Egyptian president's power grab
As the constitutional debate unfolded, fresh clashes broke out Thursday between rowdy protesters and police in central Cairo.
The mayhem prompted the closure of the U.S. Embassy near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the current protests and those in 2011.
Opinion: Don't blame Muslim Brotherhood for Morsy power grab
The Muslim Brotherhood has called for its own demonstration Saturday, in what would be the biggest public show of support for Morsy since he issued his controversial edict.
They will be joined on the streets Friday and probably Saturday by opposition protesters.
CNN's Amir Ahmed and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report.
An Egyptian man delivers a speech as protesters gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday, November 30. 
A man shouts as protesters gather in Tahrir Square on November 30. 
A man holds a copy of the Koran and a cross in Tahrir Square on November 30. 
Protesters run from Egyptian riot police during clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday, November 28. Police fired tear gas into the square, where several hundred protesters spent the night after a mass rally to denounce President Mohamed Morsy's assumption of expanded powers. Activists have been camping out in Tahrir Square since November 23. 
A protester carries a rock during clashes with police on Wednesday. 
Egyptians carry a giant national flag as tens of thousands take part in a mass rally in Cairo on Tuesday, November 27, against a decree by President Mohamed Morsy granting himself broad powers. 
An Egyptian protester holds up a Quran and a figure of Christ on the cross during Tuesday's demonstration. 
Protesters continue to rally in Tahrir Square on Tuesday. 
An Egyptian protester attempts to throw back a tear gas canister on Tuesday during clashes with riot police in Omar Makram Street, off Tahrir Square. 
Activists in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday, November 26, carry the coffin of Gaber Salah, an activist who died overnight after he was critically injured in clashes in Cairo. Salah, a member of the April 6 movement known by his nickname "Jika," was injured last week during confrontations between police and protesters on Cairo's Mohammed Mahmud street. 
Thousands of activists attend the funeral of Gaber Salah on Monday. 
Protesters clash with Egyptian police at Simon Bolivar Square on Sunday, November 25, in Cairo. Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood called nationwide demonstrations in support of Islamist President Mohamed Morsy in his showdown with the judges over the path to a new constitution. 
Egyptian protesters hurl stones at police at Tahrir Square on Sunday. 
Protesters gather at sit-in tents in Tahrir Square on Sunday. 
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy waves to supporters in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on Friday, November 23. Thousands of ecstatic supporters gathered outside the presidential palace to defend their leader against accusations from rival protesters that he has become a dictator. 
Morsy supporters gather outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Friday. Morsy insisted that Egypt was on the path to "freedom and democracy," as protesters held rival rallies over sweeping powers he assumed that further polarized the country's political forces. 
Protesters demonstrating against Morsy run from tear gas fired by Egyptian riot police during clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday. 
Egyptian protesters throw rocks toward riot police on Friday 
Egyptian supporters and opponents of Morsy clash in the coastal city of Alexandria on Friday. 
A man throws a rock during clashes in Alexandria on Friday. 
Thousands of demonstrators march through the streets of Cairo to protest against Morsy on Friday. 
Clashes rocked the coastal city of Alexandria on Friday. 
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