Gov. Christie's 137th Town Hall Meeting In Sparta

Gov. Chris Christie.

(Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Advance Media)

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Gov. Chris Christie aggressively defended the federal government's intelligence-collection efforts on Monday and suggested more needs to be done to protect residents from terrorism.

Christie, a likely 2016 presidential contender, assailed former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked thousands of documents to journalists in 2013 that showed the NSA had been collecting millions of Americans' phone records, and said it's "ridiculous" to think the government is spying on law-abiding citizens.

"They want you to think that there's a government spook listening in every time you pick up the phone or Skype with your grandkids. They want you to think of our intelligence community as the bad guys, straight out of the Bourne Identity or a Hollywood thriller. And they want you to think that if we weakened our capabilities, the rest of the world would love us more," Christie said.

"Let me be clear," he said. "All these fears are exaggerated and ridiculous."

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Christie calls for expanded military and worldwide presence

The surveillance discussion was part of a 50-minute-long speech on foreign policy the governor delivered during a trip to the early presidential voting state of New Hampshire. Christie also called for expanding the nation's military and bolstering the country's presence around the world.

But it was also an opportunity to discuss greater security at home.

"When it comes to fighting terrorism, our government is not the enemy," Christie said. "And we shouldn't listen to people like Edward Snowden, a criminal who hurt our country and now enjoys the hospitality of President Putin."

Christie accused President Obama and Democratic lawmakers of having "politicized" intelligence gathering, and called it "disgraceful" that leaders in Washington would seek to scale back the country's defenses by reining in surveillance that good-government groups have accused of overstepping Americans' constitutional rights.

"The vast majority of Americans aren't worried about the government listening in on them, because it hasn't happened," Christie argued. "But they are worried about what happens if we don't catch the bad people who want to harm our country."

Christie went on to call for an extension of the Patriot Act and an expansion of intelligence services in the country by increasing the funding.

The governor's latest policy speech came after a federal appeals court ruled earlier this month that the unwarranted bulk collection of the entire country's phone records by the government was illegal because it wasn't authorized by Congress.

News of the government's collection and storage of calling records was unearthed by Snowden's disclosure.

Snowden is living in Russia.

Gov. Christie's 137th Town Hall Meeting In Sparta 23 Gallery: Gov. Christie's 137th Town Hall Meeting In Sparta

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.