Republican front-runner Newt Gingrich is taking aim at activist judges, saying that as president he would take action to stop them.

Sunday, Gingrich told CBS's "Face the Nation" that he would put an end to the "steady encroachment of secularism through the courts to redefine America as a nonreligious country."

Gingrich said he would even consider dispatching U.S. marshals to force judges to appear before Congress to explain controversial decisions.

The former House speaker helped fund successful efforts to oust three judges who overturned a ban on gay marriage in Iowa.

That state holds the first presidential caucus on Jan. 3.