U.S. House lawyers on Thursday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject any further delay in enforcement of a congressional subpoena for President Donald Trump's financial records.

House general counsel Douglas Letter was responding to an emergency request by Trump's counsel, Consovoy McCarthy partner William Consovoy, for a temporary hold on the subpoena to allow Trump to file a formal petition challenging a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

If the high court disagrees with the House and temporarily blocks the subpoena, Letter asked the justices to require Trump's lawyers to file a petition by Dec. 2 to ensure that the high court could consider the merits of the arguments in the current term. Letter is assisted by lawyers from the Washington firm Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber.

"Faithfully applying this court's precedents addressing congressional subpoenas, two levels of the federal judiciary have upheld that subpoena as valid and enforceable," Letter wrote in Thursday's filing. "Each concluded that the committee issued the subpoena in furtherance of a valid legislative purpose and that the subpoena seeks documents relevant to a subject about which Congress could enact legislation."

The timing of any Supreme Court review becomes critical because the justices usually cut off adding cases in mid-January. Petitioners generally receive 90 days from a final lower court decision to appeal to the Supreme Court. In the case of Trump's petition challenging the subpoena, that 90-day period could force the dispute into the next term unless the justices expedite the schedule.

The full D.C. Circuit on Nov. 13 voted 8-3 not to reconsider a panel ruling in October that said Trump's longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, must comply with the subpoena for eight years of the president's information. Mazars, represented by the law firm Blank Rome, hasn't taken a public position on the subpoena. Trump was the first president in modern history to refuse to release his tax returns while campaigning for the presidency.

The appeals court panel said the House had a legitimate legislative purpose in trying to obtain Trump's tax records because "it seeks information important to determining the fitness of legislation to address potential problems within the Executive Branch and the electoral system; it does not seek to determine the President's fitness for office." Two Trump appointees to the court, Judges Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas, had wanted the full appeals court to scrap the panel decision and rehear Trump's arguments.

In asking the justices to approve a stay of the subpoena, Consovoy said: "Given the temptation to dig up dirt on political rivals, intrusive subpoenas into personal lives of Presidents will become our new normal in times of divided government—no matter which party is in power. If every committee chairman is going to have this unbounded authority, this court should be the one to say so."

On Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. issued an order temporarily blocking the D.C. Circuit decision, which was to take effect Wednesday. He directed the House to respond to Trump's emergency application by  3 p.m. today.

The next step is likely the referral of Trump's request to the full court. Five justices are required to approve an emergency stay. Granting the request, however, is not a guarantee that the court ultimately will grant review to a petition on the merits.

The Supreme Court recently received a second case that involves Trump's efforts to keep his finances secret. Last week, Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Alan Sekulow, along with Consovoy, filed a petition for review, challenging a Second Circuit decision upholding a subpoena from Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. for the president's financial records in connection with a grand jury investigation. The response from Vance is due Dec. 18.

Vance is investigating hush money payments made to two women who alleged sexual relationships with Trump before he was elected in 2016. Sekulow did not request expedited consideration of the case.

Separately, a Washington federal trial judge is weighing a House lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury Department seeking Trump's tax returns.