Christie pushes for more aggressive NSA

By Ryan Lovelace, Ryan Lovelace

Published December 20, 2015

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called for a more aggressive approach to national security during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.

Christie wants to give the National Security Agency greater power to collect metadata and strengthen the government's ability to interrogate those who might be involved in terrorist activities.

The governor highlighted his experience as a U.S. attorney for New Jersey in the aftermath of Sept. 11 as he called for renewed emphasis on homeland security in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks. Christie called the Islamic State a "cult of evil" and said that "terrorism is not theoretical to me."

"We have a president who I believe no longer listens," Christie said. "When I look back on this presidency, I think it will be marked by one phrase more than anything else: Often wrong, but never in doubt. That's a dangerous thing to have in the president of the United States."