In the first half of the 20th century, it was very unusual to use the verb "liäbä" in Swiss German ("lieben" in Standard German). You used terms like "gärn haa" even when madly in love. I'm not quite sure and I cannot verify it, but I think things changed with very popular songs like Artur Beul's "Margritli" (1940), where the refrain goes, "Margritli, i liäb di vo Härzä mit Schmärzä" ("Peggy I love you with all my aching heart"). That song has made it even into today's radio programs, and I suspect it was stuff like that, sort of synthetic Swiss German, that popularized "I liäb(ä) di" instead of "I ha di gäärn." I was born after WWII, but saying "I liäb di" is something I'd never say.

In Standard German and in many dialects in Germany, things are a bit different, especially in that "gern haben" is normally used for things, not persons, although there may be certain exceptions. The Standard German "lieb haben" sounds terribly affected when literally translated into Swiss German, although it may have infiltrated some terrain through German TV and radio too.

So, if you say to your hubby, "Ich habe dich lieb" in Standard German, his objection may be correct, because that's below the level of "Ich liebe dich." However, if you use the correct Swiss German version, "I(ch/g) ha(n) di(ch/g) gä(ä)rn," I might disagree with him in that it's a matter of the right generation. Languages change.