(NewsNation) — A controversial Texas immigration law was in the spotlight Wednesday as the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals assessed its constitutionality and considered whether to allow the state to enforce the measure.

Senate Bill 4 would allow any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest those they suspect of having entered the country illegally. The bill would also grant Texas judges the authority to deport the suspected migrants to Mexico, regardless of their country of origin.

An attorney defending Texas’ plans to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally told a panel of federal judges that it’s possible the law “went too far” but that will be up to the court to decide.

“What Texas has done here is they have looked at the Supreme Court’s precedent and they have tried to develop a statute that goes up to the line of Supreme Court precedent but no further,” Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson said. “Now, to be fair, maybe Texas went too far and that is the question this court is going to have to decide.”

The comment was made to the appeals panel that has previously halted Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s strict immigration measure. Similar proposals that would allow local police to arrest migrants are now moving through other GOP-led statehouses, including many far from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The panel did not indicate whether it believed Texas has overstepped but later questioned Nielson about the specifics and application of the law.

Daniel Tenny, an attorney representing the U.S. government, said the state attempted to “rewrite Texas SB4 from the podium with regard to the removal provision.”

Texas Republicans say SB4 is a necessary tool to help law enforcement because they say the federal government is failing to do so.

The Biden administration argues the law is unconstitutional, interferes with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration policy and hurts international relations. Abbott argues the state has the right to defend itself.

Abbott says Texas isn’t stopping the Biden administration from enforcing federal law but making it easier to do its job by putting migrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally into federal custody.

Texas was allowed to enforce the law for just a few hours last month before it was put on hold by the same three-judge panel that once again heard arguments Wednesday.

In the panel’s 2-1 decision last month, Chief Judge Priscilla Richman cited a 2012 Supreme Court decision that struck down portions of a strict Arizona immigration law, including arrest power. Opponents of the Texas law have said it is the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since that Arizona law.

The panel’s March 19 ruling came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the Texas law to take effect. The high court, however, did not rule on the merits of the law and sent the case back to the appeals court for further proceedings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.