TRENTON -- Facing the possibility that a proposed gas-tax-increase-for-sales-tax-decrease proposal he brokered with the Assembly could go up in flames, Gov. Chris Christie made his case for the deal Wednesday.

The governor called a surprise Statehouse news conference hours after Senate Democrats said they opposed the plan, which would raise gas tax by 23 cents to 37.5 cents a gallon and cut the sales tax from 7 percent to 6 percent by 2018. The plan passed the Democrat-led Assembly early Tuesday morning.

"For months now they've been saying this crisis has been occurring," said Christie, singling out Democratic lawmakers.

"Now I've acted and because they don't like it and they feel momentum going toward this plan, now they say delay," he said. "If they don't do anything then all the steps that I have to take to ... keep transportation projects going and the costs associated with (it) will be on them."

The governor was responding to a question about the announcement by Senate Democrats opposing the deal struck between Christie and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson).

But some Senate Republicans also oppose to the plan.

"There is no support in my caucus for the bill that passed the Assembly," Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union), told POLITICO NJ ahead of Christie's news conference. Kean did not respond to later requests for comment from NJ Advance Media.

When a reporter asked the governor about Republican resistance to his plan, he bristled.

"That's not what they said, you're wrong," Christie shot back. "That's not what they said. I've spoken to them since, that's not what they've said."

The governor said GOP lawmakers are in the "process of going through and reviewing" the proposal. He added "they were given bad ... (and) incomplete information" about the bill the Assembly passed in the early Tuesday morning hours of a late-night session.

"You all need to take some time on this and I'm not the least bit concerned about that," Christie said.

But immediately following Christie's event, Republican lawmakers still expressed doubts.

"I don't think I'm confused," state Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-Somerset).

"When we first heard about the general aspect of the bill there was not one Republican who was for it," he said. "I can't imagine it's going to change that much."

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris) was more emphatic.

"I am no. I am an absolute no. Not even close," he said.

State Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), who supported a Senate proposal that would have eliminated the estate tax in exchange for the gas tax hike, said he would still like that to be part of any tax restructuring deal.

"The governor is communicating now, and he's indicating to some of us that he's willing to listen to some ideas beyond his original proposal," he said. "I think there needs to be some more communication and potentially some redrafting, we'll see where things stand."

Multiple Republican lawmakers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they were being contacted by the governor's office following Christie's presser in an effort to gain their support.

The governor's impromptu news conference was kept short, with Christie opting not to take questions from certain reporters.

NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Samantha Marcus contributed to this report.

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