The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday on the case involving President Barack Obama's immigration actions.
In November 2014, President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) that would prohibit the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. since 2010 and have children who are American citizens or permanent residents.
He also announced the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
The following month, Texas and 25 other states sued the Obama administration over the new executive actions and in February last year, U.S. District Judge Andrew Henan of Texas issued a preliminary injunction against the new policy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District upheld the injunction that led to the Obama administration to seek relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.
In hearing the case, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide if the states have standing to sue over immigration policy, which the Obama administration contends is the sole responsibility of the federal government.
It will also decide on whether the Obama administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it issued the order without any notice.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said President Obama does not have the authority to implement the new immigration policies.
"We challenged it not just because of it's immigration policy. We challenged it because we don't think the President has the authority to change law and then impose that on the states, increasing our costs and putting pressure on our legislature to pay for things that we otherwise aren't responsible for paying for," said Paxton, according to CBN News.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case in June.
If the Supreme Court justices' votes end in a tie of 4-4, the injunction would be in effect and the lower court will decide on the issue, according to VOX.
If Justice Anthony Kennedy or Chief Justice John Roberts joins the liberal members, the Obama administration will win the case and the lower court ruling will be overturned. If this happens, the DAPA can now be implemented.
