Chris Christie -- a self-styled truth teller with a penchant for political combat -- was notably cautious Wednesday when pressed on President Barack Obama 's plan to issue immigration executive orders . At the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association here , the New Jersey governor and potential 2016 presidential contender repeatedly avoided weighing on the Obama plan that could defer deportation for almost four million undocumented immigrants . Christie , the RGA 's chairman , addressed reporters at the conference and basked in the glow his successful 2014 election cycle , proudly flanked by new governors-elect from the blue states of Illinois and Maryland . But even as other Republican governors with White House ambitions sharply attacked the President 's decision , Christie hedged on the hot-button issue when reporters broached the subject . `` Let 's wait to see what the president says tomorrow night before we have any kind of reaction to that , '' Christie said when asked about the immigration announcement . He did express confidence that the new Republican leadership in Congress will avoid a government shutdown over the matter despite threats from hard-line conservatives . `` All this kind of hysteria about shutdown to me is just people wanting to make news , '' Christie said . `` I have confidence in the Speaker , I have confidence in Leader McConnell that they 'll do this the right way and run the government . '' Later , asked if he would repeal Obama 's executive actions on immigration if he were elected president , he punted again , saying that questions about a hypothetical candidacy were irrelevant . `` I am not going to articulate the basis of a yet unknown candidacy , '' he said . Christie instead turned the focus back to New Jersey where , he said , `` we 've been dealing with this stuff already , because of the president 's unwillingness to deal with this issue . '' He pointed to a version of the DREAM Act he signed last year granting tuition breaks to children of undocumented workers — a bill that rankled some conservative activists in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire — and flagged his opposition to driver 's licenses for illegal immigrants . Other governors at the meeting , including several eyeing their own White House bids , were more willing to condemn the president , often in blunt terms . Indiana Gov . Mike Pence , said the president should sit down with congressional leaders and work on a piece meal approach to immigration reform . `` I think it would be a profound mistake for the president to overturn America 's immigration laws with a stroke of a pen , '' he said . Ohio Gov . John Kasich called unilateral action a `` mistake . '' Louisiana Gov . Bobby Jindal called the move `` illegal '' and said the president is breaching Constitutional separation of powers . Texas Gov . Rick Perry also called the executive order unconstitutional . Obama is also putting his own party in jeopardy , he said . `` I think he jeopardizes long term the Democrats ability to ever get back into power in Washington , D.C. , '' Perry said . Wisconsin Gov . Scott Walker said Congress could file suit and lake legal action against the president . There would be a `` compelling '' case to made against the president in the court system , he said . Though his potential rivals might have been drawing a policy contrast with Christie ahead of next year 's primary , they and other Republicans gushed over his political work atop the RGA . Christie raised over $ 100 million to elect GOP governors in 2014 and even went into debt to help pull long-shot Republican candidate Larry Hogan over the finish line in deep-blue Maryland . `` I want to thank Gov . Christie for believing in us , and the RGA for coming to the rescue , '' Hogan told reporters . Bruce Rauner , the governor-elect in Illinois , called Christie `` a relentless campaigner . '' `` I 've never seen anything like it , '' he said . And Pence said `` the country owes a debt of gratitude '' to Christie for helping install 31 governors in state houses across the country , the most for either party in 16 years . `` I speak on behalf of all the Republican governors , when I say thank you to Gov . Christie for his extraordinary leadership , '' Pence said.​ .
Chris Christie was in attendance at annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association . Christie was cautious in talking about Obama 's immigration plan . Christie is a potential 2016 presidential contender .