The BJP on Tuesday said government's decision to form the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) through an executive order was a breach of the federal structure and demanded that the decision be kept in abeyance till a consensus is evolved with the states.

Expressing support to the chief ministers of the states which have opposed the NCTC in its present form, the party alleged that the Centre took the decision to establish the anti-terror body without consulting the states.

"This is one of the many instances which show that statecraft and statesmanship have become alien to this government...We are not a union of states but have a federal structure. If the government questions this, the states have a right to protest," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told reporters here

Maintaining that federalism is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution which no Parliament can change, Jaitley said public order and police powers are functions of the states in the federal set-up.

The BJP insisted that the fight against terrorism is as much a responsibility of the states as that of the Centre and to combat it effectively the states have to be involved.

The party said the present executive order for forming the NCTC should be kept in abeyance and the states should be consulted to evolve a consensus.

"The Centre cannot substitute police powers of the states. It can only aid and assist. The Centre cannot take away from the states their power of search and seizure, and the power to arrest," Jaitley said.

He cited the example of TADA and POTA, two central laws for which the states were the implementing agency.