Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Sunday refused to explicitly say that he disagreed with his father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), that Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) offers "nothing" to Republicans -- but he may have shocked some tea partiers by declaring that the party had "room for people who believe in bigger government."

Rand Paul and Christie had been engaged in a public spat in recent weeks, including the Kentucky senator calling the New Jersey governor the "king of bacon" and then offering to "kiss and make up" with a beer summit.

And then last week, Ron Paul got in on the conversation when he told CNN that Christie "offers nothing" because he needed to "believe in something and understand economics or you just keep doing the same things and deficits keep running up."

On Sunday, Fox News host John Roberts asked Rand Paul if he wanted to try to defuse the situation.

"What I would say is the party's big enough for both of us," the Kentucky Republican replied. "This all started with him saying, we don't have room for libertarian Republicans. The thing is, that's how we grow our party."

"But, again, do you agree with your father when he says Gov. Christie offers nothing?" Roberts pressed.

"What I would say is there's room for people who believe in bigger government in our party," Rand Paul insisted. "Some of the things he seems to have promoted makes us believe that, well, he thinks there's a lot more spending that can go on. I think that national defense is a priority for our country. The only way we have enough money for national defense is actually to be very, very frugal with other spending. And that is a valid disagreement we have."