Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Republicans in Congress are "playing with fire" and that there is "no option" available for the president if they refuse to raise the debt ceiling.
Some Republicans have suggested that once the debt ceiling is breached, President Barack Obama could take action on his own to prevent the country from entering into default, triggering cascading world financial problems.
But with the debt ceiling deadline set for later this month, Lew said Sunday morning on CNN's "State of the Union" that "there is no option preventing us from being in default if we don't have the cash to pay our bills."
Republicans' approach to the debt ceiling, he said, is "reckless, because the reality is there are no good choices if we run out of borrowing capacity."
John Boehner
Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, pumps his fist as he walks past reporters after a meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the Senate floor after agreeing to the framework of a deal to avoid default and reopen the government on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Carolyn Kaster)
Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., walks to his office after arriving on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Ted Cruz
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pause as he speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
John McCain
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., walks to a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Susan Collins
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, walks out of the office of Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Lindsey Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Washington. Time is growing short for Congress to prevent a threatened Treasury default and stop a partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Charles Schumer
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., walks near the Ohio Clock on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Paul Ryan
House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., walks to a meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Kevin McCarthy
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., arrives for a meeting with House Republicans in the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Washington, after Senate leaders reached last-minute agreement Wednesday to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government after a partial, 16-day shutdown. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Eric Cantor
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., arrives for a meeting with House Republicans after Senate leaders reached a last-minute agreement Wednesday to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government after a partial, 16-day shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Capitol
A view of the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington. The partial government shutdown is in its third week and less than two days before the Treasury Department says it will be unable to borrow and will rely on a cash cushion to pay the country's bills. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Barack Obama, Democrats
President Barack Obama, center, and Vice President Joe Biden, center left, meet with Democratic Leadership in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi, James Clyburn
From left, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., walk out of the West Wing of the White House to speak with reporters following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Jay Carney
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney answers a reporter's question at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, regarding talks between Republicans and Democrats lawmakers on the partial government shutdown and looming debt default. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., walks to the Senate floor following lunch with fellow Democrats, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Steve King
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, walks from House Speaker John Boehners office with reporters asking questions, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Joe Manchin
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., taks on his phone just off the Senate floor following lunch with fellow Democrats, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Eric Cantor
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, is followed by reporters as he leaves Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Steny Hoyer
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., leaves the Capitol at the end of the night after a planned vote in the House of Representatives collapsed, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. Time growing desperately short, House Republicans pushed for passage of legislation late Tuesday to prevent a threatened Treasury default, end a 15-day partial government shutdown and extricate divided government from its latest brush with a full political meltdown. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Reporters Waiting
Reporters wait outside the office of Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, as a planned vote in the House of Representatives collapsed, Tuesday night, Oct. 15, 2013, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Pizza Delivery
A trolly loaded with pizza is wheeled onto the elevator that serves the office of House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Boehner Protesters
Protesters demonstrate outside the offices of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in West Chester, Ohio. The government shutdown is entering its third week. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Stuck Tourists
On a cross -country driving tour of national parks, Mary and Bob Barker from New Jersey take a few pictures of the closed gate of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington on Oct. 15, 2013 as the it remained closed due to the partial government shutdown. "It's been nothing but a ghost town at every park we've been too. We thought it (the shutdown) was only going to last a couple of days," said Bob Baker. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Dean J. Koepfler)
Capitol Dome
In this Oct. 14, 2013, photo, the U.S. Capitol is seen as a partial government shutdown enters its third week, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Barack Obama
President Barack Obama stands with Chantelle Britton, who works at the Department of Health and Human Services, left, while putting a bologna sandwich into a Ziploc bag as he visits Martha's Table, which assists the poor and where furloughed federal employees are volunteering, in Washington, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is surrounded by reporters after leaving the office of Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., on Capitol Hill on Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
WWII Veterans
A group of WWII veterans from Montana go around the barricades to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Eric Cantor
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., walks to the floor during a vote at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, as a partial government shutdown enters its third week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Reporters Waiting
Reporters wait outside the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill on Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Students At The Capitol
Eighth-grade students from Highland Middle School in La Grange, Ill., take photos as they visit the Capitol in Washington, Monday morning, Oct. 14, 2013, as a partial government shutdown enters its third week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WWII Veteran
Edward Swetish of Helena, Mont., a WWII veteran, poses for a photograph in front of a statue of President Roosevelt at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ted Cruz
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas talks with reporters following a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Stock Market
Trader Kevin Lodewick, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Global stock markets were mostly higher Thursday Oct. 10, 2013 as President Barack Obama prepares to meet with top Republican leaders in hopes of ending an impasse over the nation's borrowing limit and resolving budget disagreements that have led to a partial shutdown of the federal government. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky heads to a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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