WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. John McCain says his former rival for the White House deserves some credit for the beginnings of an economic turnaround in the short term, but adds that the long-term consequences of the Obama administration’s spending could be “devastating.”

The Arizona Republican spoke to CNN Chief National Correspondent John King Sunday in a wide-ranging interview on CNN’s State of the Union.

Asked whether President Obama deserves some credit for recent indicators that the recessionary economy has stopped its freefall, McCain said: “I think it’s very clear that the stimulus has had some effect. But, what I worry more than anything about is the long-term effects, because we are committing generational theft.

”We have put trillions of additional debt on future generations of Americans,” he added.

“In the words of the Congressional Budget Office and others, it is ‘unsustainable,’” McCain said.

“The long-term consequences, I think, are going to be, unfortunately, devastating unless we do something about it,” McCain also said.

McCain’s comments come as Democrats have been ratcheting up their efforts to demonstrate the effectiveness of Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan which Republicans say has not benefited the economy or eased unemployment as Democrats promised.