Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama's assertion of executive privilege ahead of a hearing before a House committee, which subsequently recommended his attorney general be cited for contempt of Congress, sets up a fight that has had mixed results in the past. 

At stake are Justice Department documents relating to the flawed Fast and Furious gunrunning sting that House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-California, wants in his hands, and that Attorney General Eric Holder says are confidential. 

The White House move means the Department of Justice can withhold the documents from the committee, which recommended by a 23-17 vote Wednesday that Holder be cited for contempt. 

The full House is expected to consider the motion next week. 

More details: House panel recommends contempt citation 

If it votes to issue a contempt citation, a statement of facts would be delivered to the U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, "whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action," according to the law governing contempt citations. 

Executive privilege also has been around since the earliest days of the country, and gives the executive branch the ability to withhold certain internal discussions and documents from scrutiny. 

"It's there to give the executive branch some breathing room for its own deliberations," said Josh Chafetz, professor of law at Cornell Law School. 

Executive privilege "has a long history, but it often plays out very differently," he said. 

The last major confrontation over executive privilege also involved the Justice Department, but the partisan roles were reversed. 
Who was the AG?
Attorney General Eric Holder 