Is it illegal to unplug the penger airbag on my Jeep?

I was doing some work under the dash of my '98 Wrangler the other day and unfortunately had to destroy the penger airbag cover in the process. I cut the thick rubber that holds the cover from flying off of the dash and makes it fold upward instead. Now if the airbag deploys it will blow the cover away, probably into the face of the penger. It's pretty soft rubber so I don't know if it would cause much more damage than the airbag alone, or if it would possibly miss the penger entirely. It's a gamble and for now I have chosen to leave the airbag unplugged. Is it illegal to do this? Do you think it would be safer to plug it back in?