"Thank goodness" the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau did its job in the Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) case, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York.

The regulator was also a great collaborator, according to Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer.

Feuer filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo and worked with the CFPB and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to levy the $185 million settlement with the bank for opening about 2 million accounts without customer authorization.

"As we began working with the CFPB, we found the quality of their work, the doggedness of their determination and the ultimate result to be terrific. I have only positive things to say about the exceptional work of the OCC and the CFPB," he said on CNBC's " Power Lunch " on Thursday.

The L.A. attorney's comments come as legislators wonder if the actions against the bank could have come sooner. He said that the CFPB reached out to him "upon the filing of [the L.A.] lawsuit."

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, told CNBC last week that he wanted answers from regulators such as the OCC and CFPB.

"Why was the story broken by an LA Times reporter years and years ago and only now … have our regulators seemingly caught it?" he said on "Power Lunch." "I don't know if they need a pat on the back or a swift kick in the backside."

Rep. Maloney, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, pushed back and told "Closing Bell" that most people are giving the CFPB "high marks."

"If anything, this makes a case for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They kept the data. They had the customer complaints coming in. They acted. They investigated," she said on Thursday.

— CNBC's Michelle Fox contributed to this report.

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