AMERICA will face "financial panic" and a "long and painful recession" unless the US Congress passes a rescue package immediately, President George Bush said.

Mr Bush said the United States needed to put its economy "back on track" as Congress was considering a $700 billion rescue plan to tackle the "extraordinary" financial crisis gripping the nation.

In his televised prime-time address to the nation, the president also confirmed he had invited both presidential candidates and the leaders of the House and Senate to the White House in a bid to secure the bill to rescue the US economy.

The rescue package, which has caused serious concerns due to the amount of taxpayers' money involved, was aimed at "preserving America's overall economy", not saving individual companies, Mr Bush said.

America would face a "long and painful recession" if Congress failed to act and "major sectors of America's financial system are at risk of shutting down", he said.

"Our entire economy is in danger."

Meanwhile Republican John McCain has called for the first face-to-face debate of the US election to be postponed due to the financial crisis.

The 72-year-old declared he was suspending his campaign and called for tomorrow's debate in Mississippi to be postponed.

But his Democrat opponent Barack Obama said the debate should go ahead.