Aug. 18, 2015: Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is still not issuing marriage licenses, invoking 'God's authority.' (AP)

A defiant Kentucky county clerk is appealing to a higher authority than the U.S. Supreme Court as she refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis' office denied marriage licenses to at least two same-sex couples on Tuesday morning, invoking "God's authority." 

Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the nation this summer. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her. A federal judge ordered her to issue the licenses, an appeals court upheld that decision and the Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in the case, seemingly leaving Davis with no legal ground to stand on.

But Davis has steadfastly refused to issue the licenses, saying her deeply held Christian beliefs don't let her endorse gay marriages.

Davis asked David Moore and David Ermold, a couple who has been rejected four times by her office, to leave. They refused, surrounded by reporters and cameras.

"We're not leaving until we have a license," Ermold said.

"Then you're going to have a long day," Davis told him.

From the back of the room, Davis' supporters said: "Praise the Lord! ... Stand your ground."

Other activists shouted that Davis is a bigot and told her: "Do your job."

On Tuesday morning, shortly after Davis' remarks, the sheriff's office cleared the county office of those gathered to support both sides of the issue.

The two groups lined up on either side of the courthouse entrance to chant at each other. Davis' supporters told her to "stand firm," while gay-rights activists shouted "do your job."

The rejected couples' supporters called the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit on their behalf. They asked that their attorneys file to have Davis held in contempt.

Randy Smith, leading the group supporting Davis, said he knows following their instruction to "stand firm" might mean Davis goes to jail.

"But at the end of the day, we have to stand before God, which has higher authority than the Supreme Court," he said.

Ermold hugged Moore, his partner of 17 years, and they cried and swayed as they left the clerk's office. Davis' supporters marched by, chanting.

"I feel sad, I feel devastated," Ermold said. "I feel like I've been humiliated on such a national level, I can't even comprehend it."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.