Gov. Chris Christie defends Ebola quarantine policy

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in an interview Sunday, defended his Ebola quarantine policy against criticism it could have a chilling effect on health care workers traveling overseas to fight the disease.

"It was my conclusion that we needed to do this to protect the public health of the people of New Jersey," Christie said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

His remarks came two days after he and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the new protocol for travelers returning to New York and New Jersey from West Africa.

In both states, those who came in contact with Ebola patients will be subject to a mandatory, 21-day quarantine.

The rule is stricter than U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which call for the voluntary quarantine of returning health care workers.

"The fact of the matter is that I don't believe, when you're dealing with something as serious as this, that we can count on a voluntary system," Christie said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday to express concerns that such "blanket quarantines" are not based on scientific evidence and "could possibly have a negative consequence of essentially disincentivizing people" from going to West Africa to help stop the Ebola's spread.

"The best way to protect Americans is to stop the epidemic in Africa, and we need those health care workers to do that," Fauci said.

"So to put them in a position that when they come back, no matter what, they're automatically under quarantine can actually have unintended consequences, and that's the reason why we're concerned about that."

The first traveler quarantined under the new guidelines, nurse Kaci Hickox, has voiced similar concerns.

Hickox, of aid group Doctors Without Borders, was flagged at Newark Liberty International Airport during a return trip from Sierra Leone and hospitalized Friday.

"I am scared about how health care workers will be treated at airports when they declare that they have been fighting Ebola in West Africa," she wrote in an editorial for The Dallas Morning News.

"I am scared that, like me, they will arrive and see a frenzy of disorganization, fear and, most frightening, quarantine."

Hickox, who has maintained she is not suffering any symptoms of Ebola, tested negative for the disease Saturday but remains under observation.

The American Civil Liberties Union is now reportedly demanding that Christie provide the public with more information about how New Jersey came to the conclusion that mandatory quarantines are medically necessary.

"Coercive measures like mandatory quarantine of people exhibiting no symptoms of Ebola and when not medically necessary raise serious constitutional concerns about the state abusing its powers," Udi Ofer, executive director of the ACLU's New Jersey chapter, told NJ.com.

During the Fox News interview, Christie called CDC protocols on dealing with Ebola "a moving target" and maintained the necessity of taking extra steps to protect densely populated areas like New Jersey.

"If anything else, the government's job is to protect the safety and health of our citizens, and so we've taken this action and I absolutely have no second thoughts about it," he said.