“You can’t, in these dangerous times, take tools away from the government, and he’s made the country weaker,” Christie said in an interview with the Associated Press on Friday.

Cruz was instrumental in the passage of the USA Freedom Act, which banned bulk metadata collection by the National Security Agency.

Christie also said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another GOP presidential contender, is too inexperienced for the job.

“He’s not ready to be president, he’s a first-term senator, we just went through that,” Christie said, making reference to President Obama’s inexperience when he was elected in 2008. “You can’t do on-the-job training with the presidency.”