The WA Liberal Party is in danger of imploding, with former state leader Bill Hassell warning its powerbrokers to pull their heads in or face disendorsement.

While he refused to name the powerbrokers individually, Mr Hassell did not dispute he was referring to federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and state Upper House MPs Peter Collier and Nick Goiran — who it is widely claimed run the party in WA.

Mr Hassell's extraordinary threat was levelled after party president Norman Moore suffered a humiliating defeat on the floor of the party's State Council on Saturday — a defeat that has apparently left him contemplating quitting.

WA Liberal president Norman Moore is believed to be considering resigning. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

"When people as distinguished as Norman Moore are put in an awkward position as he has been, it's likely that there will have to be a shake-out," said Mr Hassell.

"I think some of these powerbrokers have to pull their heads in.

"Some of these people who are going too far might lose their endorsements.

"The one power that the party has is to endorse or disendorse, and if Members of Parliament don't recognise their responsibilities to the party as the party recognises its responsibility to the MPs, then those MPs may find that they are not endorsed in future."

Mr Moore, an elder statesman of the party who was a minister in the Court government, was overruled by the State Council — the Liberals' governing body — when he moved to suspend standing orders to establish two committees.

One was to consider constitutional change, including the introduction of a plebiscite system whereby all branch members would get to vote on preselections — something that's being championed in a bid to curb the influence of powerbrokers, who largely control who gets a seat in Parliament.

The party rejected that idea at its state conference in September, even though it had the strong backing of Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop.

Moore accused of behaving like 'dictator'

The second committee was to explore the feasibility of a WAxit — WA's answer to Brexit — and whether the state could become financially independent from the rest of the country.

Sources have told the ABC Mr Moore was rebuffed because he wanted to stack the committees with his own picks, when he should have called for nominations in advance of the meeting.

They've accused the Liberal veteran of behaving like a "dictator", of "spitting the dummy" when he didn't get his way and of threatening to quit as president.

Mr Moore declined to comment, however privately, some Liberals have urged him to stay put and take the fight up to the powerbrokers.

They fear any decision to quit would prompt other senior members to do the same, seriously jeopardising the party's capacity to fundraise in the lead up to a federal election.

Too many 'power games': Hassell

Mr Hassell — who led the party from 1984-86 and was president from 1992-94 — said the WA Liberals were at a crossroads.

Bill Hassell says some major donors are reconsidering their support for the party. ( ABC News )

"There are some things that are going on which are not good," he said.

"There's far too much factionalism, there's far too many people playing power games instead of concentrating on state and federal elections, which is what the party exists to win.

"There are some people who would like to turn the Liberal Party into a branch of some fundamentalist churches I think, and it's not that.

"The party has to deal with these things internally.

"I do know there are some major donors who are fed up with bad performance and are considering their positions in relation to their support of the party."

Mr Collier and Mr Goiran declined to comment.

"All queries about State Council related business should be directed to our party president and the state director," Mr Goiran said in a statement.

Senator Cormann was contacted for comment.