WASHINGTON — Ben Bernanke put himself at odds with the Obama administration Wednesday by resisting its plan to create a consumer protection agency for risky financial products. The Federal Reserve chief said those responsibilities should stay with the central bank.

Bernanke's pushback on the White House plan comes at a politically delicate time for the Fed chairman. His term expires early next year, and President Barack Obama will have to decide whether to reappoint him.

In his second day on Capitol Hill, Bernanke argued the Fed has expertise that would be difficult to replicate at a new agency. Consumer oversight, he said, coincides with the Fed's mission to oversee the soundness of banks.

Addressing the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke defended the Fed's record. Yet he acknowledged "that the Federal Reserve did not do all it should have at certain times in the past."