Texas Gov. Rick Perry, campaigning for re-election, has called on the Defense Department to deploy unarmed Predator drones to the Texas border to provide security and collect "real-time" data, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Perry, seeking a third full-term as governor, faces Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the GOP primary March 2.

Law enforcement officers are frequently "outgunned and understaffed and do not have resources" to do their jobs, Perry said in explaining his request for drones. "The federal government has been an abject failure at sealing our international border."

The newspaper said officers from the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs already use three Predator B, or unmanned aerial vehicles, at the Arizona border for remote-control surveillance of drug and migrant smuggling.

A fourth Predator aircraft is expected to arrive this summer and will be stationed in Corpus Christi, The News says.