"We're 40 days away from a national election. But this issue supersedes an election," the Connecticut Democrat said in an appearance on ABC's "This Week" program. "We need to get this right and we need to do it quickly."

Dodd also said he and his colleagues in Congress were stunned by warnings delivered late last week by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

"When the chairman of the Federal Reserve described the situation to us, there was a pause for about 10 or 15 seconds when nothing was said," Dodd said. "The air came out of the room."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, appearing on the same program, said if Congress failed to act the nation's economy could be turned upside down.

"This could be the most serious financial crisis that the world has ever dealt with," the Ohio Republican said, adding that while he understands the dilemma of some of his fellow Republican who are struggling to accept what could become the biggest expansion in government since the Great Depression.

Boehner warned this was "not the time for ideological purity."