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U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) speaks at a news conference last month.

(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — who could square off in the next Republican presidential primary — are already tangling.

Christie on Thursday night invoked memories of 9/11 as he blasted libertarian-leaning lawmakers — including Republicans like Paul — who openly oppose the National Security Agency’s controversial surveillance program.

Paul fired back today, with his spokesman using lyrics from the governor’s favorite rocker — Bruce Springsteen — against him.

Political experts say the episode is a snapshot of Christie prepping for his possible presidential run in 2016 by showing Republicans he’s a national security “hawk” but distancing himself from the growing libertarian branch of the party, led by Paul.

Christie made his comments while sitting on a panel of Republican governors at an event in Colorado hosted by the nonpartisan Aspen Institute.

They came a day after libertarian-leaning members of the U.S. House of Representatives nearly helped pass a measure that would have reduced funding for the NSA’s surveillance program, in which the phone records of millions of Americans are collected.

“I just want us to be really cautious, because this strain of libertarianism that’s going through both parties right now and making big headlines, I think, is a very dangerous thought,” Christie said. “I think what we as a country have to decide is: Do we have amnesia? Because I don’t. And I remember what we felt like on Sept. 12, 2001.”

Asked whether he was referring to Paul, Christie replied, “You can name any number of people who are engaged in it, and he’s one of them.”

The governor then noted that more than 600 New Jersey families lost relatives in the 9/11 terrorist attack.

“These esoteric, intellectual debates — I want them to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans and have that conversation,” Christie said. “And they won’t, because that’s a much tougher conversation to have.

“The next attack that comes, that kills thousands of Americans as a result, people are going to be looking back on the people having this intellectual debate,” the governor continued.

Paul took to Twitter to respond.

“Christie worries about the dangers of freedom,” said a message on Paul’s Twitter feed this morning. “I worry about the danger of losing that freedom. Spying without warrants is unconstitutional.”

Doug Stafford, one of Paul’s top advisers, also slammed Christie.

“If Gov. Christie believes the constitutional rights and the privacy of all Americans is ‘esoteric,’ he either needs a new dictionary or he needs to talk to more Americans, because a great number of them are concerned about the dramatic overreach of our government in recent years.” Stafford said in a statement. “Defending America and fighting terrorism is the concern of all Americans, especially Sen. Paul. But it can and must be done in keeping with our Constitution and while protecting the freedoms that make America exceptional.”

Stafford then quoted Springsteen’s 2007 song “Long Walk Home.”

“In the words of the governor’s favorite lyricist, ‘You know that flag flying over the courthouse, Means certain things are set in stone. Who we are, what we’ll do and what we won’t,’ ” Stafford said.

Colin Reed, a spokesman for Christie, declined to respond, saying the governor’s comments Thursday “speak for themselves.”

Julian Zelizer, a political science professor at Princeton University, said Christie is a more “plausible” presidential candidate than Paul but that the governor “wants to take the steam out of any potential rivalry early on.”

More importantly, he said, Christie wants to “position himself against the more libertarian, anti-government, tea-party element” of the Republican Party.

“He can say to the Republican base: I may not be Rand Paul, I may not be a maverick, but I’m a national security hawk,” Zelizer said.

That makes “perfect sense for Christie,” said Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“He's perceived as something of a RINO (Republican in Name Only) by the right because of his warm relations with President Obama and his more moderate positions on a few specific issues “ realistic stances for someone running in Democratic New Jersey,” Sabato said in an e-mail.

“So how does Christie get back in the good graces of the right? He can use tough rhetoric on national security, traditionally the GOP's preferred spot relative to the Democrats.”

Star-Ledger staff writers Jenna Portnoy and Salvador Rizzo contributed to this report.

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