Do you have a spit system with an air handler in the attic? If so, your drain lines my be clogged and shutting the compressor off to keep your pan from over flowing and ruining your ceiling.

If you have this kind of system, wrap a rag around the end of your drain lines and use a shop vac to suck it out.

Mine did the same thing a bout a month ago. When the water level in the pan slowly drained down low enough, the float switch would allow the compressor to turn on and cool again until it filled back up.

I normally clean the periodically but just forgot to and they clogged up