A federal judge on Monday declined to order President Donald Trump's administration to restore thousands of foreign aid contracts and grants that have been canceled since the president took office, though he found that the administration must speed up payments of close to $2 billion for already completed work.

Some $2 billion in foreign aid that the Trump administration had frozen must be paid out to humanitarian groups, a federal judge ruled Monday, adding that the freezing of those funds may have violated the separation of powers between the executive branch and Congress.

By a 5-4 vote Wednesday, the court rejected an emergency appeal from the Republican administration, while also telling U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order that required the quick release of nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been done.

Chief Justice Roberts issued a temporary pause. Aid organizations said in a Supreme Court filing that they "would face extraordinary and irreversible harm if the funding freeze continues."