RALEIGH, N.C. -- Judges who struck down North Carolina's congressional map for excessive partisanship have refused to delay their order telling Republican state lawmakers to draw new lines by next week. 

Tuesday's decision by the three-judge federal panel was expected, given that the judges wrote 200-plus pages last week explaining why the boundaries are illegal political gerrymanders violating the U.S. Constitution. 

GOP legislators already have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the order's enforcement. That request is pending. 

The lower-court judges wrote the lawmakers failed to meet their burden to justify delaying the order. The lawmakers cited cases already before the Supreme Court from other states for necessitating a delay. But the judges said their decision is likely to be affirmed no matter what the Supreme Court decides with the other cases.