Dueling or Defense for S&B Paladin in CoS?

I’ll be playing CoS soon and for the first time running s&b. So far my party consists of a;

Devotion Paladin (me)

Scribes Wizard

Shadow Sorcerer

Gloomstalker Ranger

Wildfire Druid

The ranger will be fighting in melee with me if that matters. I have a 16 STR and honestly plan to keep it there. So if I take dueling that’ll give me a +5 to my damage rolls. But if I take defense that’ll give me a 19 AC. I’m struggling to decide which is better in the long run