And although the visitors pulled one back from the penalty spot Rangers held on despite Walter Smith having to shuffle his pack in the pre-match build-up.
New signing James Beattie joined Miller in attack but with Steven Davis ruled out due to illness the midfield four consisted of Steven Whittaker, Mo Edu, Naismith and Kyle Lafferty.
The atmosphere in the stadium prior to kick-off was electric and Rangers flew out of the traps with their opponents struggling to get out of their half of the pitch.
It was relentless stuff and after just 13 minutes Miller came close to breaking the deadlock.
Broadfoot surprised the Killie defence when he squared a clever free-kick from the right and the club’s no. 9 saw his netbound effort deflected over the bar.
Three minutes later and the opening goal arrived and Miller took the credit.
Naismith’s deep corner was brilliantly controlled by Broadfoot who blasted a low shot which was blocked on the line.
A Killie defender attempted a clearance but the ball rebounded off Miller’s back before nestling in the net.
At that stage Ibrox was rocking but having taken an early lead a bit of slackness came in to Rangers play.
On 23 minutes a skewed clearance from Bougherra, which resulted in a corner to Killie, gave the visitors a bit of breathing space.
And when David Silva delivered a deep cross James Fowler was left totally unmarked and his shot was deflected over the bar.
This sparked Rangers back in to life and when Lafferty floated a delightful cross in to the box Beattie lashed a Miller knock down towards goal but Cameron Bell did brilliantly to make a point blank save.
Killie, however, were now pushing forward with intent and when Invincibile beat David Weir down the left his cross flew across the six yard line with Silva caught on his heels.
With minutes of the half remaining a similar opportunity came Killie’s way this time from the Main Stand side of the pitch.
Jamie Hamill, who had an excellent game on the right side of defence, sent another low cross in to the box and Invincibile was inches away from putting the ball in to empty net.
Smith and his coaching staff would have demanded more from their players at the half-time interval and, like in the first-half, Rangers were impressive at the start of the second.
On 49 minutes a slip from Frazer Wright allowed Beattie to sprint clear but after cutting inside Bell dashed off his line to make a stop with his legs.
Two minutes later and Lafferty tried his luck with a long range shot which took a wicked deflection off a Killie defender before clipping the post.
Naismith once again enjoyed a productive 90 minutes from his central role and after blasting a 30 yard shot which Bell did well to hold the former Rugby Park star doubled his side’s advantage.
Miller flicked the ball over the Killie defence and Naisy took aim before firing a low right foot shot in to the opposite corner of the net.
The second goal was thoroughly deserved but almost immediately Paatelainen’s men hit back when Papac was adjudged to have bundled over James Dayton in the box.
Hamill took the spot kick and calmly sent McGregor the wrong way with a confident finish.
With the scoreline sitting at 2-1 this game was far from over with Killie working hard and well organised.
With ten minutes remaining Beattie was replaced by Kyle Hutton who was making his competitive debut for the Light Blues.
And the striker received a standing ovation from the home support after putting in a excellent shift despite lacking in match sharpness.
With Rangers now moving to a 4-5-1 formation Paatelainen had one last throw of the dice with striker Conor Sammon being sent on.
But the home side dealt comfortably with the threat from the tall striker and held on to secure all three points from this opening day clash.