New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Senator Rand Paul clashed tonight over how much power the National Security Agency should have to access phone records of Americans, reprising a spat they’ve been having for years now.
Christie, a former federal prosecutor who has handled terrorism cases, has favored a more aggressive approach to surveillance and analysis of phone records, suggesting that as a New Jersey resident, he understands better than most the tragedy 9/11 was for America. Paul has tried to distinguish himself from his own party on national-security and privacy issues, arguing that the Fourth Amendment bars much of the NSA’s activities.
Paul’s accusation that Christie doesn’t respect the Constitution was matched by Christie’s charge that Paul doesn’t know what needs to be done to fight terrorism — he’s “blowing hot air” “sitting in a subcommittee,” the governor charged.
This isn’t the first time the two have fought over the topic: Back in May, when the records-surveillance programs were being debated in Congress, the two traded shots on the campaign trail. And two years ago, Christie had already staked out an especially hawkish position in the debate, again emphasizing his roots in New York and New Jersey and calling the “strain of libertarianism that’s going through both parties right now” “very dangerous.”