The officials who are responsible for enforcing Proposition 8 have called on the judge who struck it down Wednesday to let same-sex marriages begin. 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Attorney General Jerry Brown asked U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker Friday not to grant a stay that the attorneys defending Prop. 8 have requested.

Ironically, Schwarzenegger and Brown are officially named as defendants in the suit, but they declined to stand up for the state's same-sex marriage ban when it was challenged in federal court. Instead, “defendant-intervenors” who campaigned for the 2008 ballot initiative stepped in to argue for the law.

These Prop. 8 proponents have argued that allowing gay marriages while they appeal the judge's decision would place an administrative burden on the state if a higher court later voids the unions.

This argument apparently isn't compelling to the attorney general or the governor.

“The Administration believes the public interest is best served by permitting the Court’s judgment to go into effect, thereby restoring the right of same-sex couples to marry in California,” wrote attorneys for Schwarzenegger in the motion. “Doing so is consistent with California’s long history of treating all people and their relationships with equal dignity and respect.”

By Friday afternoon, all the parties in the case had submitted their arguments as to why the stay should or should not be extended.

The judge will now decide whether to allow same-sex marriages to proceed.