WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's top Republican leader has a message for President Barack Obama on the debt limit talks: They're all yours.

Taking the rare step of directly addressing the president from the Senate floor, Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell advised Obama on strategy for solving the debt limit crisis.

McConnell said: "Don't expect any more cover from Republicans on it than you got on health care. None."

The talks are growing more tense in the shadow of an Aug. 2 deadline, when the White House says the government would begin defaulting on some of its massive debt. Republicans refuse to accept any proposals that raise taxes or don't cut spending enough, and McConnell does not want a breakdown in talks to jeopardize the GOP's chances in next year's presidential and congressional elections.