Plasma-based microwave power limitation in a suspended microstrip transmission line integrating a micro hollow cathode discharge (MHCD) in its center is experimentally and numerically studied. Transient and steady state microwave power measurements exhibit a limitation threshold of 28 dBm and time responses of 25 microseconds. Intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) imaging shows that microwave breakdown occurs at the top of the MHCD. The plasma then extends towards the microwave source within the suspended microstrip transmission line. Besides, a self-consistent model is proposed to simulate the non-linear interaction between microwave and plasma. It gives numerical results in great agreement with the measurements, and show that the plasma expansion during the transient response is related to a shift between the ionization source term and the electron density maximum. The propagation speed, under the tested conditions, depends mainly on the stepwise ionization from the excited states.