If you want to control where a newly created (or pasted) path will be positioned within the overall stacking order of an illustration, you need to activate (highlight) a top-level layer, sublayer, group, or object on the Layers palette before pasting or drawing the object.
Note: Activating a top-level layer or sublayer will not cause objects on those layers to become selected. To learn how to select objects using the Layers palette, see pages 182–183.