UPI:

Ten U.S. senators have filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a law that defines marriage as a union between a man and woman.

The 10, all Republicans, want the high court to overturn the rulings of multiple lower courts that cleared the way for same-sex marriage, McClatchy Newspapers reported.

In their friend-of-the-court brief, the senators said it is inconsistent for the Justice Department to have assured Congress the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, was constitutional in the mid-1990s and now raise questions about it.

"The time to speak was in 1996, when Congress gave careful consideration to the need for DOMA," the senators said.