SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Attorneys for accused terrorist Jose Padilla argued in court Wednesday that the government doesn't have the authority to detain a U.S. citizen taken into custody on U.S. soil as an enemy combatant.

Padilla was arrested in Chicago in 2002. Federal prosecutors allege that he was part of a plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States.

His five volunteer attorneys appeared Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Henry Floyd in Spartanburg, S.C., but Padilla did not attend the hearing.

The government says Padilla, among other things, completed an application to attend a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and that he met with top al-Qaida officials in Pakistan before his arrest. Government attorneys argue the location of the arrest does not matter.

Government attorneys would not comment after the hearing, but Padilla's did.

"Anyone the government says in an enemy combatant can be plucked off the street of any American city and detained indefinitely without charge," attorney Jonathan Freiman said. "The government essentially is asking for its own power to be permanently enhanced. It's a total restructuring of our constitutional system."

Judge Floyd said it will take him at least 30 to 45 days -- and maybe even longer -- to make a decision.

Padilla was designated an enemy combatant by the government and has been held at the brig at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station since his arrest, though he has not been charged with any crime.

Another of Padilla's attorneys told WYFF_TV News 4's Kelly Coakley that the hearing is about whether the executive branch of government has the right to decide who can be held.

"If it could happen to Jose Padilla, it can happen to anybody. And you know, our position is that when the executive branch takes someone into custody ... it has to be judicially reviewable," attorney Michael O'Connell said. "American citizens have the right to have a judge decide if we're being legally held."

Security around the courthouse was tight, with the street in front of the courthouse closed for most of the day.