New York Senator Chuck Schumer (D) warned on Sunday that a congressional stalemate on raising the debt ceiling would be "playing with fire" - and that failing to raise the limit would severely damage the U.S. economy.

In an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Schumer chided House Speaker John Boehner for stretching negotiations on the federal budget to the final hour, and argued that similar negotiating tactics if employed when debating the debt ceiling would hurt the U.S. economy.

"Speaker Boehner had to keep [budget] negotiations going to the last minute to show the Tea Party people he was doing everything he could," Schumer told CBS' Bob Schieffer, of last week's down-to-the-wire debate over funding the federal government through the end of the 2011 fiscal year. "You cannot do that with the debt ceiling. That is playing with fire - because if the markets believe we are not going to pay our debt, it could be a formula for recession or worse.