TRENTON — The U.S. Supreme shouldn't be tasked with making gay marriage the law of the land, Gov. Chris Christie said today. Instead, each state "should have the ability to decide on their own" how to settle the issue of same-sex marriage.

The governor made the statement less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for gay marriage expansion in some states by refusing to hear appeals to repeal same-sex marriage cases from lower-level courts.

“We’ve resolved that issue in New Jersey through the courts,” he said. “We are now moving forward as an administration in terms of enforcing the law as the court has interpreted it and each state should their opportunity to be able to make that decision through their process.”

However, Christie said gay marriage shouldn’t be decided by the nation’s high court.

“I do not believe that this is something that should be imposed from the United States Supreme Court down to the states,” he said.

Earlier this week, Christie declined to give an opinion on the Supreme Court decision while speaking at a campaign event in Connecticut, saying he had not "had a chance to read" more than the headlines about it.

The governor, who has always opposed same-sex marriage in New Jersey, said today he’s enforced the state’s high court’s ruling to permit gay marriage “vigorously” and “made sure that it was enforced fairly and directly in this state.”

New Jersey became the 14th state to legalize gay marriage last year after Christie’s administration dropped its legal challenge of a lower-court ruling allowing gay couples to marry in New Jersey. The administration had originally appealed the court’s ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Christie opposed same-sex marriage in New Jersey and vetoed a bill in 2012 that would have allowed it. He urged lawmakers to put the question on the ballot instead.

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

MORE POLITICS