Chris Christie, Rand Paul Trade Barbs Over NSA Surveillance

GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie fired off at Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul once again for his opposition to the NSA's domestic surveillance programs, CNN reports.

The New Jersey governor, who entered the presidential race last week, appeared on Sunday and Monday morning TV shows slamming the libertarian-leaning senator for making the country "weaker and more vulnerable," CNN reports.

"We're going to look back on this, and he should be in hearings in front of Congress if the country is attacked," Christie said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

This is not the first time the Republican hopeful has taken shots at Paul for his opposition to the Patriot Act. But according to CNN, Paul shot back by saying Christie is worried about the "dangers of freedom" rather than the "dangers of losing that freedom."

CNN notes that under the Patriot Act, the NSA gathered the call records of millions of Americans without a targeted warrant, a practice Paul and other civil libertarians believe violates Americans' fundamental rights.

Despite the constant battling, the two Republicans both benefited financially from the NSA debate. While Paul's campaign sent out fundraising emails after his more than 10-hour marathon speech in the Senate, Christie's political action committee also sent out fundraising emails to support his stand on anti-surveillance efforts.

According to a CNN/ORC poll, Paul sits in fourth place with 9 percent support and Christie, who is looking for a political comeback after the Bridgegate scandal, is in sixth place with 5 percent support in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

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