Washington, DC - President Barack Obama suspended budget negotiations on Friday to give congressional leaders a day to come up with a "plan of action" on how to unblock talks meant to cut deficits and avert a debt default.

The President who had vowed to meet top lawmakers every day until a deal is reached to raise the U.S. debt limit, gave top Democrats and Republicans until Saturday morning to reconsider their positions in the high-stakes negotiations.

He will hold a news conference on Friday at 11:00 a.m. EDT while awaiting feedback from meetings on Capitol Hill due to take place in the morning.

The debt negotiations may resume over the weekend.

"It's decision time. We need concrete plans to move this forward," Obama said on the fifth straight day of debt negotiations on Thursday, according to a Democratic official.

Financial markets are starting to worry that Republicans and Democrats are too far apart to reach a major budget agreement by Aug. 2, when the United States would run out of money unless the cap on government borrowing is raised.

Obama, who is running for re-election in November 2012, has rejected the idea of a stopgap or short-term agreement that would require the debt ceiling to be raised again next year.

"A short-term solution is not something I will sign," he said on Thursday.

Republicans are pressing for at least $1 in spending cuts for every $1 that the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling is lifted, and say the White House needs to get serious about reducing spending to properly address the debt problem.

Democrats are open to certain cuts but want some tax increases and other revenue-builders to be included in any deal so that the burdens of the austerity are shared.

Obama thinks a deal worth $2 trillion could be feasible if both sides bend a bit, officials familiar with the talks said.

But attention was focusing on a separate track under discussion by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. That plan would give Obama greater authority to raise the debt ceiling while setting procedures in motion that could lead to federal spending cuts.

The outline of the plan was winning unusual bipartisan support even as some conservatives voiced misgivings. The proposal is no one's preferred option, and that's what might make it the most palatable.

Under the plan, which would require approval by the House and Senate, Obama would have the power to order an increase in the debt limit of up to $2.5 trillion over the coming year unless both House and Senate vote by two-thirds margins to deny him. Reid and McConnell were trying to work out ways to guarantee that Congress would also get to vote on sizable deficit reductions. The plan also could be linked to immediate spending cuts already identified by White House and congressional negotiators.

"What may look like something less than optimal today, if we're unable to get an agreement might look pretty good a few weeks from now," Speaker John Boehner told reporters.

Talks were also under way over a plan to appoint 12 lawmakers from both parties to draft a long-term framework to stabilize the national debt, The Washington Post reported.
Participants and aides described Thursday's White House session as far more cordial than the tense conclusion to Wednesday's meeting, when a curt Obama declared "enough is enough" and dispensed with end-of-meeting niceties.

One of the people in the room for the negotiations, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, said Obama has put on a display of patience.

"He is the president of the United States. I know he is busy," Pelosi said. "I myself am almost too busy to continue listening to some of the things going on in that room, so I know he must be very busy. But he has treated everyone there with great dignity."

The last such make-or-break negotiations, day by day, happened just earlier this year to prevent a shutdown of the government.